DUBAI // Murray Strang must have wondered what was going on.
The Jebel Ali Dragons fly-half had just helped guide his side to the Gulf Men’s League crown, and he promptly decided to lead them to the top of the podium, too.
Few would begrudge him the honour, given that he has featured for the past five years at the Dubai Rugby Sevens and departed only with bumps and bruises.
No wonder, then, he seemed to especially enjoy the winners’ ceremony, cheering frantically when his captain was presented the trophy.
Yet what made it all the more mystifying was that a group of diehards, decked in Abu Dhabi Harlequins colours, serenaded Strang from the thoroughfare below.
You see, his first-half try was instrumental in a 19-7 victory over the capital club, a team he represented with distinction until last season.
Evidently, past contributions have not been quickly forgotten.
“Yeah, they were singing, ‘You’re still a Harlequin’,” said a clearly delighted Strang. “To get that when you’ve just beaten them is really nice, because I’d expect a bit of stick. But it’s always been good-natured. They’re a great club.”
Work commitments eventually convinced Strang to swap the Quins for the Dragons, following an extended period of loyal service to the former. A Dubai resident for the past three years, he spent the initial two seasons making the arduous commute to Abu Dhabi, but because the journey is not conducive to a 30-something sportsman, something had to give.
Seeing as the Dragons have long rivalled the Quins for domestic bragging rights, they were the obvious choice. Apart from the obligatory lighthearted banter, old mates have remained firm friends.
“They’re a great bunch of lads,” Strang said. “A brilliant club, who have been nothing but gracious every time I played against them. I’ve really enjoyed keeping those relations up.”
The ribbing may just crank up a notch. Strang was not the only architect of the Dragons victory, though, as his try was sandwiched between efforts from Taif Al Delamie and Andy Russell.
Jordan Burns gave the Quins hope early in the second half, but it was not enough to ruin Strang’s moment in the sun.
“It’s an absolute amazing feeling, to be honest,” he said, despite an injured hamstring that hampered him. “I wasn’t quite prepared for it at the end, and I’m just absolutely delighted.
“I’ve been here, played five times in a really tough tournament and lost every one. And to play in this exact fixture last year with my Harlequins jersey on and to lose to the Dragons means this has been a long time coming.
“When that final whistle went it was just joy. It’s a long three days; I’ve got friends over from the UK and I’ve had to say no to the socialising and the late nights, so to go all the way and finish it off is absolutely amazing.
“And I suppose it makes it all the more pleasurable winning when you know you’re up against a quality side, too.”
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GULF 18s: MAXFIELD IN THE PINK FOR DUBAI COLLEGE
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Tucked tight on the right-hand touchline, facing the most populated and vociferous stand at the Sevens and confronted by a kick that could conceivably seal an anticipated Gulf Under 18s Trophy title, you would have forgiven Augus Maxfield for wanting to keep a low profile.
Yet, as even the name suggests, the Dubai College sweeper does not do inconspicuous.
With his side leading by 10 points against Dubai English Speaking College in this age-category final, Maxfield trotted confidently across to take the conversion, dropped the ball and casually stroked it between the posts.
Good job he did, given he was wearing easily the flashiest pair of boots on show.
“If you wear pink [boots] you’ve got to be really good,” said Andy Jones, the Dubai College coach, after his boys lifted a third successive crown.
“We’d just been telling him to block out everything, that it’s just another game. Which is very difficult with 30,000 people watching.
“But he seemed to just have that composure within himself to get the job done.”
Like their match-winning teammate, Dubai College’s class of 2013 are no shrinking violets.
Given the resources and history of an institute that prides itself as the premier British international school in the Middle East, much is expected.
So their eventual 19-17 victory sat particularly well with everyone linked to the new champions.
“We lay that into them as their challenge,” Jones said.
“People expect Dubai College to do well, and we expect them to step up to that. It can sometimes be seen as a negative thing, but we always say when you come to ‘DC’ you’ve got a great reputation and a tradition to live up.
“And fair play to the boys – they seem to step up year after year.
“We’re very, very satisfied with the way they handle themselves on the big occasion.
“We’re ultra proud.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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Bio
Age: 25
Town: Al Diqdaqah – Ras Al Khaimah
Education: Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering
Favourite colour: White
Favourite place in the UAE: Downtown Dubai
Favourite book: A Life in Administration by Ghazi Al Gosaibi.
First owned baking book: How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Abu Dhabi card
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,400m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 2,200m
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
The National selections:
5pm: Valcartier
5.30pm: AF Taraha
6pm: Dhafra
6.30pm: Maqam
7pm: AF Mekhbat
7.30pm: Ezz Al Rawasi
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
SQUADS
South Africa:
Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wkt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada
Coach: Ottis Gibson
Bangladesh:
Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Imrul Kayes, Liton Das (wkt), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wkt), Mustafizur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed.
Coach: Chandika Hathurusingha
Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
