BRFC RALLYING CALL

Bahrain Rugby Football Club has issued a rallying call to members and sports enthusiasts to cheer on the first XV in a crunch encounter with Dubai Hurricanes on Friday in the first senior fixture of 2013 in the Gulf Top Six competition.

Bahrain RFC (BRFC) has long been renowned around the region for its vociferous and unwavering support and indeed it was back to its buzzing best for the most recent home fixture against Doha in November, when the crowd was instrumental in lifting the team to a first victory over their near rivals in seven outings.

Indeed, such was the impact of the crowd that night that club president Mehdi Honar was moved to send a heartfelt letter to all club members to thank them for their support.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s match in Janabiyah, first XV captain Rich Wilkinson was hoping for more of the same this Friday. “The Gulf Top Six is what it’s all about for us and after losing our opening two matches of the league; we know we must win this weekend’s game if we are to be where we want to be at the end-of-the-season.

“Probably the most disappointing aspect of those first two games is that we felt we could have gotten more out of them. We didn’t really do ourselves justice against the Hurricanes in Dubai and then we were leading Abu Dhabi after 50 minutes before things went against us so that just shows you how tight the margins are in this competition.

“That makes this weekend all the more important. We targetted all our home games as ‘must-wins’ before the season started and nothing has changed in that regard.

“We can compete against the best in this league and should have nothing to fear. Friday’s match is our first home game since the beginning of November so I hope our supporters will be hungry for some live action and turn out in force.

“No other team in the Gulf has anywhere near the fantastic support that we have here in Bahrain and it’s no exaggeration to say that it gives the team a huge boost on the field.

“The atmosphere from the crowd during our most recent home match against Doha was one of the best I’ve ever experienced and I’m hoping to see more of the same on Friday and for the remaining home matches through the rest of the season.”

Friday’s match at BRFC will kick-off at 4.30pm and will be followed by an official post-match party featuring resident DJ Ollie.

The match also coincides with BRFC’s Australia Day Festival, which includes two special editions of the famous Carnivores Night at Mano’s restaurant and concludes with the Australia Day barbecue on Saturday.