ABU DHABI // A set of parents returned to Abu Dhabi on Monday after a whistle-stop trip to New Zealand to see their son play against the British & Irish Lions at the weekend.
Three years after playing for Abu Dhabi Harlequins in a pre-season friendly in Al Ain, Oliver Jager was a pillar of the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians scrum in the tour opener against the Lions.
Jager, who was born in London but learnt his rugby while growing up in Ireland, was acclaimed for his performance at tight-head prop for the Barbarians in the narrow 13-7 loss.
Father Harm organised his trip to Whangarei, as well as his time off from work at Haddin’s Gym in Zayed Sports City, along with mother Therese at a week’s notice.
They were only in New Zealand for just over a day, but Harm said it was worth the effort to see their son playing against the Lions.
“As a parent, to be there was something really special,” said Jager Sr, a Dutch personal trainer who has lived in the capital for the past five years. “Being able to see your son playing there was really cool.”
Jager, 21, may yet get a second shot against the Lions for the Crusaders Super Rugby franchise on Saturday. He plays provincial rugby for Canterbury, and has figured in the Super Rugby side, too.
It marks the continuation of a remarkable rise for a front-row forward who did not even like rugby when he was first introduced to it in his mother’s homeland.
“In Ireland you have the choices between soccer, GAA, and rugby basically,” Harm said.
“We tried GAA, he didn’t like it. When he was seven or eight, we tried rugby, and he didn’t like it either. We took him away from it, but after a year said he had to go again, because he had to do something.
“From then on, he stayed with, progressed from team to team, school to school, basically to where he is now.”
Harm said he had not seen his son play for three years, since he passed through Abu Dhabi en route from school in Ireland to a rugby academy in New Zealand’s south.
As such, he was concerned when his son was pitted directly against 104-cap Ireland hooker Rory Best and 51-cap England loose-head prop Joe Marler.
“As a parent, you are always nervous, but not especially because he was playing the Lions,” he said.
“He plays Super Rugby sometimes, and they are big, very experienced guys. He scrums every week against [All Blacks front-rowers] Joe Moody and Wyatt Crockett, all these big names.
“So I wasn’t so worried about the physicality, but worried for him, and hoping it went well, that he didn’t have to go off after five minutes. It all went well.
“He has matured significantly in the three years since I last saw him play. Then he was a boy. Now he is a rugby player.”
Lions links
Oliver Jager is not the first player with an association to UAE rugby to have featured in a British & Irish Lions tour.
Chris Doyle (2001) The Lions won their final warm up match before the first Test against Australia in 2001 46-3 over New South Wales Country, but failed to convince.
According to the Guardian match report, they were “made to look ordinary for large parts of the game by their amateur opponents from the state’s rural areas.”
That included Chris Doyle, a classy fly-half who subsequently moved to the UAE and went on to represent Dubai Hurricanes with distinction during their glory years at the turn of the decade.
Ryan Grant (2013) Injuries to Gethin Jenkins and Cian Healy led to a call up for Scotland prop Ryan Grant on the tour of Australia four years ago.
That concluded an unlikely journey from Sharjah Wanderers to the Lions front-row for a former soldier.
His father, Billy, who later moved to Doha, played as a prop for the Sharjah club while he was employed in Port Khalid, while brother Lee was a flanker in the same team.
pradley@thenational.ae
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