Rugby in UAE: Dubai Sports City Eagles ready to soar in their inaugural season

Dubai Sports City Eagles hope to establish themselves as a viable West Asia Premiership club, after taking up an option to join the top division immediately after being formed.

The new club have been entered into the Premiership on the provisional fixture list for the forthcoming season, having persuaded the UAE Rugby Federation they are capable of playing top-flight rugby.

Space became available in the premier competition for Gulf rugby after Al Ain Amblers opted out last season due to a lack of player depth.

It also seems unlikely Doha will be unable to take up their place in the competition because of the Qatar dispute.

That would have left just six clubs – Abu Dhabi Harlequins, Abu Dhabi Saracens, Bahrain, Dubai Exiles, Dubai Hurricanes and Jebel Ali Dragons – in the region’s top league.

Some chairmen from the established Dubai clubs have expressed their doubts as to whether the Eagles should be admitted directly to the Premiership.

However, the start-up team were keen to accept a place straight away, as they are confident they will be competitive in their first season.

They are in the throes of a busy recruitment drive, with a number of clubs on alert about losing personnel.

Based at Sports City, the Eagles believe they can attract leading players because of their proximity to the residences of new Dubai, as well as providing access to the facilities on site.

As the owners of the venue, they will also have less costs to bear than other Dubai-based sides, all of whom are tenants at their respective home grounds.

More on Rugby in UAE:

More, not less: Room for three clubs in Abu Dhabi
Money talks: Compete for titles on pitch, chase dirhams off it
High-pitched: Why pitches are expensive to hire for clubs

The Eagles hope to imitate the success of Doha and Bahrain in becoming the central club of their community.

Sean Carey, the former Dubai Exiles and Hurricanes winger, is leading the project as the facilities manager at Sports City.

“It is a venture we are launching here,” said Carey, who debuted for the UAE national team at the end of last season.

“We want to become a community club and have a real family vibe to it, like in Bahrain at Doha.

“It is going to take a lot of work at first to get this thing off the ground, but hopefully down the line we can be up there as one of the better clubs in the region.”

Carey said the opportunity to go straight into the Premiership was too good to turn down.

“If it means we take a hiding in some of the games, we’ll take that as we want to be there,” he said.

“We are serious about it. It wasn’t just a social thing, we wanted to take a good shot at it. When the opportunity arose, we just took it.”

Sports City has been an active rugby hub for some time now. It hosted the first UAE Rugby Grand Finals day at the end of last season, while Arabian Knights and Dubai Sharks have been long-term tenants.

Carey acknowledged the landlords will take priority over the tenants when it comes to pitch hire.

“I think they will remain separate entities, it is really up to them where they want to go with it,” Carey said.

“We obviously needed to move some things around, as we needed the peak timings for the business. I think they will continue on as they are.

“We are not eating them up, and we are not amalgamating. It is a new venture we are starting, it is up to players wherever they want to play.”

Mike Quinn, the chairman of the Sharks, whose teams play in the Conference and Community leagues, says his club are now looking at alternative venues to play and train.

“We are on the hunt for a new pitch, and are looking at multiple options,” Quinn said.

“It is going to be tricky. Dubai has plenty of pitches. Trying to find ones that are prepared to allow rugby players to play on them is very difficult. I am sure we will find something.”

Arabian Knights hope to continue to base their huge mini and youth operation at Sports City.

The senior men’s teams are assessing other options for pitch hire, but no players will be decamping to the new club, according to John Taimana, Arabian Knights manager.

“Every single senior Knights player will be staying,” Taimana said.

MATCH INFO

First Test at Barbados
West Indies won by 381 runs

Second Test at Antigua
West Indies won by 10 wickets

Third Test at St Lucia
February 9-13

THE BIO

Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain

Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude

Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE

Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally

Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science

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.

Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE

Join parent networks
Look beyond school fees
Keep an open mind

Sole survivors

Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances