6 Things You Need To Know About The Sport Of Rugby In Dubai
Nothing in Dubai quite evokes a greater sense of community spirit as much as the sport of rugby does!
Rugby in Dubai (or the UAE in general) dates as far back as 1947, when the British military personnel played against expatriate employees of the Kuwait Oil Company.
Cut to year 1974 when a handful of expats from various rugby clubs in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia set up a union called the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union, the sport has since gone from strength to strength in the region.
And standing tall at the very epicentre of it is the truncated version of the game called Dubai Rugby Sevens that is held annually and is an integral part of the rugby culture in Dubai.
For a sport that holds such an importance in our emirate, it’s only fitting to take a look at some of the most interesting facts associated with the game in Dubai.
1. For the majority of its history in the UAE, rugby has been played on sand pitches.
Even till 1955 at Dubai Sevens, the ground was made up of sand rolled flat and marks made with bitumen.
Now, of course, the pitch is made up of well manicured grass.
2. The Dubai Rugby Sevens which is now known as the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens is exactly one year older than the UAE itself.
The event began in 1970 (the UAE was formed in 1971) with The Staffordshire Regiment winning the first ever tournament then.
Believe it or not but only a handful of rugby enthusiasts from the expat community witnessed the first match. Now it’s one of the biggest sporting events of Dubai.
3. Dubai Rugby Sevens was, in fact, invented by what was the ONLY Dubai rugby club back then called the Exiles.
They hosted an invitational sevens tournament on their pitch back in 1970.
Today they are one of the participants in the tournament they started.
4. Dubai, in 1999, hosted a leg of the International Rugby Board’s Sevens World Series, for the first time ever!
Now known as the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, the tournament is held at Emirates’ purpose-built venue, The Sevens Stadium that has eight pitches and can see a crowd up to 10,000.
Not bad, isn’t it?
5. Female rugby in Dubai is also growing at breakneck speed, matching the male counterpart groups in both skill and aggression, with many local teams now even competing in various competitions held throughout the year.
Some of the Dubai rugby clubs that feature women’s rugby are: Sharks, Hurricanes, Eagles and Tigers.
6. There are total ten rugby clubs in Dubai as of 2017.
They are Arabian Knights, Hurricanes, EXILES, Sharks,Tigers, Jebel Ali Dragons, Wasps, Shaheen, Dubai Beaver Nomads and the newly formed DSC Eagles.
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