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It was double delight for the Bahrain Rugby Football Club’s mighty miniatures as they roared to victory in Doha to bring home a coveted cup and shield.
The Under-7 Bahrain Pumas pounced their way to the top of the league at the recent Doha Rugby Football Centre to be crowned cup winners at the annual Minis and Youth tournament.
The youngsters, mostly British and South African boys and girls aged six and seven, faced challengers from the UAE, Doha, Muscat and Abu Dhabi.
Head coach and manager Ian Davis and team coaches Gary Stubbs, Gavin Boyle, Ryan Atkinson, Mike Holland and Sam Mannings were thrilled to see the nine-member squad power to success.
Davis, a DHL pilot from Saar and proud parent of little rugby enthusiast, Amelia, said: “Since the squad’s victory in Dubai the numbers at training has increased to the extent we had enough players to split the squad and enter an Under-7 team too. As coaches we were keen for this and the kids have excelled.
“For most of these players it was their first tournament and with some excellent support from their coaches, captains and parents, they produced an outstanding result.”
Ably led by captains Oscar Boyle and Aaron Ashcroft, the Pumas won their semi-final to earn a final encounter against Abu Dhabi Harlequins who had also won their group.
According to Davis, it was a tense match with excellent defence and attack from both sides, including strong running from the ‘Player of the Tournament’ Bobby Looby.
The game ended in a 20-20 draw and went into extra-time and sudden death. The nail-biting battle continued with the victory going to the first team to score.
The Harlequins attacked ferociously but were stumped by the Pumas’ determined defence.
All seemed lost though when the Harlequins made a break on the outside. However, Freddie Boyle, the youngest member on the squad, would not concede and showed outstanding commitment by making an amazing try-saving tackle.
The ball was then turned over and with Bahrain on the attack Callum Lynn’s strong running beat the ’Quins defence and he scored the winning try.
Atkinson said: “Every member of the squad played their hearts out. The maturity and passion showed by such young players is inspirational”.
The BRFC’s Under 6 tiny tykes, who train once-a-week at the club with coaches Stephen Holland, Martin Plunkett and Stefan MacMillan-Skrzywanek also brought joy to the faces of cheering parents as they clinched the shield.
Plunkett, who works at St Christopher’s School, said: “It was a great competition for the children being their first competitive tournament. It has been a huge learning curve for the youngsters. Playing rugby at the age of five is a tough challenge what with understanding the rules, playing as a team, being focussed, disciplined, supportive of one another and working together.
“By the final game Allessandro Mews managed to secure a multitude of tries to win the Under-6 shield for Bahrain and a win for the team.”
Bahrain’s Under-8 Tigers and Lions also showed great promise during the tournament. Charlie Ferguson produced a man-of-the-match performance by scoring two excellent tries in the group stage and Amelia won three man-of-the-match awards.
Davis added: “Aston Marais also performed well as co-captain with Amelia and together with Harry Slattery and Owen Wrankmore produced solid performances throughout the tournament.”
As for the Lions, Davis believes for an inexperienced team, they did amazingly well. He said: “They were pitted against some strong sides including their own Bahrain Tigers. They drew one match and lost two in the group stage and qualified for the Shield Final.”
