UAE rugby year in review: From on-pitch victory to off-field diversifying, it was a successful 2016

UAE rugby team coach Apollo Perelini. Antonie Robertson / The National

DUBAI // The UAE Rugby Federation have rarely set limits on their ambitions. Apollo Perelini, the coach, gave a hint to their positive thinking in August when he suggested his national team are targeting qualification for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

“If you win seven games as a national team, you could go to the World Cup. Is that possible? Absolutely, yes,” Perelini said. “It is achievable. We have the cohort of players. There are good enough players around Dubai at the moment.”

Perelini knows what it is like to play at a World Cup, having done so himself for Western Samoa. He was buoyed, too, by the form of the national team on his watch, in qualifying from Asia’s third tier to its second with a minimum of fuss in May.

This year has been a triumph for UAE Rugby on almost all the measures it sets for itself. At elite, Test-match level, the representative team could not have done any more, within the small window of opportunity it has to impress.

They thrashed Thailand and Uzbekistan in the Asia Rugby Championship Division 2. In terms of the road to Japan 2019, it was so far, so good, and on to bigger challenges next year.

The federation also made substantial strides in 2016 at bringing indigenous players to the sport. Chief among their achievements on that count was fielding a fully-Emirati Under 18 girls side in an international sevens competition in November.

According to Fawzia Mohammed Faridoon, a federation board member, they want there to be a split of 60 per cent male and 40 per cent female participation within five years. “UAE Rugby is very committed to the Olympic value of gender inclusion,” Faridoon said.

The novelty of having Emirati girls active in the sport contrasted with the domestic club game, where 2016 marked the revival of the country’s oldest rugby institution.

In the not too distant past, Dubai Exiles had been a laughing stock, at one point forfeiting their involvement in first XV rugby, and with only a handful of players attending training.

Their feats in 2016 show how far the wheel can turn. Building on the structure put in place by Jan Venter, Gareth Venter and Mike Wolff, and with new coach Jacques Benade’s steady hand on the tiller, the Exiles became UAE and West Asia double-winners.

To embellish the club’s credentials further, a variety of Exiles juniors are now making a name for themselves abroad, too.

Jordan and Devante Onojaife, former Exiles youth players, are now professionals at Northampton Saints, while Tom Stapley, a centre in the double-winning team, has been with Ulster’s academy.

As the XVs season split for its winter break, Exiles only had a tenuous grip left on their No 1 status. Abu Dhabi Harlequins go into 2017 undefeated at the top of the West Asia Premiership.

The capital club also have all the swag that has been given out so far this season, having won the Asia Rugby Western Clubs Champions League and the Dubai Rugby Sevens.

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