DUBAI // One of the UAE’s most historic rugby clubs made a long awaited return to the winners podium last Friday.
A week on, Sharjah Wanderers will be hoping to follow the lead of Dubai Exiles when they contest the UAE Conference final against Jebel Ali Dragons second XV.
Sharjah have home advantage on account of an outstanding record this season which sees them go into the final undefeated.
The only points they have given up were in a drawn match against their final opponents earlier in the campaign.
Despite their excellence to date, Luke Banks, the Wanderers captain, acknowledged there are some underlying nerves ahead of the big match.
Read more: Mission accomplished – With West Asia trophy, Dubai Exiles complete revival
Also see: 'Small club' Sharjah Wanderers are thinking big in UAE Conference
“We are excited because this is a big occasion for the club,” Banks said. “We just want to get there now and play the game. When I first joined four years ago, we used to train with about eight or nine guys.
“We have had some great new players join the club, which has made a big difference. We have kept the same solid core over three seasons and a few good additions have really boosted us.”
Established in 1977, 11 years after Dubai Exiles, Sharjah have a proud history. Many stars have trodden the turf at the Wanderers.
Ryan Grant, a Scotland prop who has played for the British & Irish Lions, once wore the red and black shirt as a Wanderers player.
Carlos Spencer, Christian Cullen and Conrad Jantjes have all made guest appearances there in the recent past.
The club also hosted the Under 19 Rugby World Championship in 2006, a tournament which involved future internationals like Will Genia, Danny Care and Brad Davies.
Despite having enviable facilities and being centrally located in Sharjah, the club have opted to train in Dubai in recent seasons in order to access a larger player base.
Banks, who lives and works in Dubai, says the players still have a firm grasp of their club’s identity, though.
“It is a massive thing for us to still be Sharjah,” the back-row forward said.
“Many of the older players are still involved in the club and they always get that message across to the new guys coming in. This season, more than in the past three years, we have a lot more Sharjah-based players.”
While the form guide favours the home side, Dragons are the ones with experience of the atmosphere of a Conference final day.
They were narrowly beaten at the same stage last season, when they lost out in Al Ain against the Amblers, who were subsequently promoted to the top flight.
“This our second chance at winning the Conference title,” said Mike Taylor, the Dragons captain.
“Sharjah are a very good team with a big pack and fast backs. They haven’t lost all season, so it is going to be a huge challenge but it is one that we are really looking forward to.”
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
How to apply for a drone permit
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What are the regulations?
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England squads for Test and T20 series against New Zealand
Test squad: Joe Root (capt), Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Dominic Sibley, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes
T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Pat Brown, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, James Vince
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
