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Bahrain Rugby Football Club raised the curtain on the 2018-19 season in perfect fashion as they claimed the Asia Rugby Western Clubs Champions League for the first time, cheered on by a raucous crowd from the club’s newly-inaugurated grandstand.
A pulsating encounter against old rivals and reigning champions Abu Dhabi Harlequins balanced on a knife-edge, with the result in doubt until the final kick.
A first half score from Jack Phillips and a late touchdown by debutant Callum Roberts, along with 17 points from the boot of Ross Preedy, did the damage, as Bahrain emerged victorious 27-21.
It was a long-overdue first home victory for Bahrain over the UAE giants since February 2010, played out to a cacophony of noise from the renowned home crowd. The new grandstand was warmly received, with the higher number of seating rows and better vantage point of the pitch being praised to the rafters.
It was a close call, though, as the finishing touches were only applied the night before, and the paint on the walls of the new changing room was still drying as the players’ shirts were hung on the wall!
Work began in July, and also features new referee changing rooms, plus a ladies cloakroom, alongside a complete relaying of the playing pitch by the same company that has created and cared for the smooth condition of the acclaimed courses of the Royal Golf Club in Riffa Views.
The new development bodes well for the season ahead, with the famous ‘Red Wall’ sure to be called upon to push its team over the line during a gruelling season to come. Indeed, it was arguably the 16th man who settled this most tense of ties.
The home side – and the supporters alike – had to endure a nervous final few minutes as the mighty Quins pressed for a second try of their own that could have set captain Luke Stevenson up for the chance to steal the win, but it was some resolute defending that held firm.
As expected, this winner-takes-all clash was a pulsating affair virtually from start to finish, with little really to choose between the two sides throughout. Both teams had beaten Kandy SC in their other round-robin fixture.
Bahrain flew out of the blocks and established a lead early, before Quins struck back with a try right on the half-time whistle. It was then Quins that took the driving seat during the second half, and took the lead for the first time with 10 minutes to go thanks to some precise kicking from Stevenson.
It looked like they were on course to retain the trophy for the third time in succession, until a cracking finish from Roberts – after some silky passing exchanges – made the difference.
The victory delighted coach Louie Tonkin, although he was quick to emphasise that the team had no time to rest on their laurels as the two teams face off again this coming Friday in the opening round of the West Asia Premiership, this time away at the Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi.
He said: “I’m absolutely chuffed, that was a tense game and could have gone either way. The momentum swung so much and it went down to the last kick.
“We wanted to start strong and take the sting out of their attack, which we did, but then we lost a little discipline and errors crept in. We got two yellow cards which isn’t ideal, especially under that sort of pressure, so that needs looking at. However, what we have got is tremendous character and we really dug in, weathered the storm and fought back late on with the help from the fantastic crowd.
“It’s great to get a trophy and also another game time under the belt for our whole squad, in preparation for the season ahead which is our priority. All 27 players got significant time both in this game and the Kandy match so I’m delighted with that.
“We’ll look at the video of this match and see where we need to improve as it was far from perfect. It’s not true that you only learn by losing, you can learn from winning too. Abu Dhabi away from home is as tough as it gets.”
