Henry Paul has left Jebel Ali Dragons after taking up a role coaching Canada.
The former England international flew to Toronto at the end of last week, where a Canada select XV faced Ontario Arrows in a development fixture on Friday.
He will assist Kingsley Jones, the former Wales player who is head coach of a Canada side that are targeting qualification for next year’s World Cup.
There are three qualifying berths still open for the competition in Japan in September 2019. Canada have to win a four-team repechage event to make it to the World Cup.
Paul had worked alongside Jones coaching in Russia in the past, and he jumped at the chance to reprise the relationship in Canada.
Paul, who also represented New Zealand in rugby league, became the biggest-name coach yet to work in domestic rugby when he joined the Dragons in 2016.
His two seasons with the Dubai club culminated with them climbing back to the top of the regional game by becoming West Asia Premiership champions this season.
Stuart Quinn, the Dragons chairman, said the club are thrilled for Paul, even if it means they will be losing “the best coach in the region”.
“We are all stoked for him, but gutted, too, because he has been an amazing part of the team,” Quinn said.
“He really wants to take coaching as a career. We have absolutely loved having him. He is a great friend of the club. Winning the West Asia Premiership was the icing on the cake.
“He came to the Dragons when we were in the doldrums. He took us to the UAE Premiership final the first year and we managed to top it off by winning the big one the next year.
“He couldn’t have done much more, and he has been rewarded by having a shot at international coaching.”
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Henry Paul credits 'incredible' Jebel Ali Dragons players for West Asia Premiership title success
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Quinn said Paul’s departure could amount to a “sabbatical”. He has an 18-month contract, up until the end of the World Cup, but the full stay might be dependent on Canada’s performance in qualifying.
His fiancée lives in Dubai, which was the driving factor for him leaving the UK to move to the emirate, and thus coach the Dragons, in 2016.
Quinn says the club are actively pursuing a replacement, though, and the new recruit could be of similar standing to Paul.
“I can imagine the Arsenal board have had less meetings about [Arsene] Wenger leaving than we have had,” Quinn said.
“It is going to be difficult to replace him, but the show must go on.
“We are really excited for him. We have lost the best coach in the region, as far as we are concerned, but it is not to a rival.
“If we get to fly out to Japan to watch him help topple a giant [at the World Cup] that would be terrific for us.
“We were very, very lucky with Henry. We got the name, and a guy who very much understood what amateur rugby is all about.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Brief scoreline:
Wolves 3
Neves 28', Doherty 37', Jota 45' 2
Arsenal 1
Papastathopoulos 80'
How Sputnik V works
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
