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National pride and bragging rights will be at stake at Bahrain Rugby Football Club (RFC) in Janabiya this weekend as the International Touch Rugby Festival makes a welcome return.
First launched on the Easter weekend of 2011, this very strictly social tournament attracted teams from Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka and it is expected to feature even more nations this year.
The nature of the competition means that it is open to players of all ages and levels of experience, with each team required to field at least two social players at all times.
A special ‘surf and turf’ barbecue will take place on the sidelines of Friday’s event and anyone interested in entering a team or an individual is asked to contact sports.coordinator@bahrainrfc.com as soon as possible.
Following on from the competition, the Rugby Club will also play host to a special farewell match for Golden Oldies stalwart and all-round club legend Simon Tucker.
Tucker, who first joined the club in 1995, is a former first XV regular and Golden Oldies vice-captain but will be returning to Canada early next month.
In true Bahrain RFC fashion, Golden Oldies captain Mike Burton has thrown down the gauntlet to his long-time teammate for a challenge game, with kick-off scheduled for 6pm.
Friday’s activities at the Rugby Club will also offer Bahrain’s first XV a return to the field after the conclusion of a gruelling Gulf Top Six campaign last week.
An intense, non-stop, 10-week schedule finished on a high for the Bahrain boys as they toppled former heavyweights Dubai Exiles away from home in their final match of the league to claim a fourth-place finish.
Tries from Sam Wilson, Tom Ham and a brace from Tom Jankowski paved the way for an deserved 28-24 victory and what was the side’s first in Dubai for two years.
It was the perfect way to finish off what has at times been a trying season for the Bahrain outfit, but one which also included a number of high points, not least an impressive well-supported run of home wins against some of the region’s top sides.
Speaking after a well-deserved rest, star centre and head of sports at Bahrain RFC Sam Wilson said he was delighted with how the team had finished off the campaign and that he was already looking forward to next year.
“It’s always good to put one over on Dubai Exiles and to do it in their own back yard just made it all the more satisfying,” he added. “We’ve seen all year how difficult it has been to win away from home in this competition, so it was great to finish off the season with that lift.
“It’s fair to say that we haven’t had the greatest luck with injuries this year, but that’s the nature of the game and every team is in the same boat so we’re certainly not using that as an excuse.
“As we expected, the Gulf Top Six proved to be a highly-competitive league but we proved that we were capable of mixing it with any of the other teams on our day.
“There was some frustration in that we weren’t as consistent as we would have liked but there were plenty of highlights, particularly the big home wins.
“The Bahrain supporters have long been regarded as the best around the region but they came into their own this year and got us through some tight battles that we probably would have lost in previous years.
“The thing for us now is that we’ve almost come full circle from losing almost the entirety of our league-winning team of a couple of seasons ago and, while there is still plenty for us to work on, the foundations are there for us to get back to challenging for trophies.”
While the Arabian Gulf rugby season is now on a break until next September, there will still be plenty going on at Bahrain RFC over the coming months so check out www.bahrainrfc.net for more details.
