A season-defining fixture

Bahrain Rugby Football Club’s first XV squad will be making its annual trip to Oman for the penultimate round of the Gulf Top Six competition and a potentially season-defining fixture against old rivals Muscat.

Three weeks on from a comprehensive 34-3 victory over the same opposition in Saar, Bahrain will be looking for more of the same this weekend but will be all too aware that this well-drilled Muscat outfit will provide an altogether different proposition on home soil.

A win on Friday would guarantee Bahrain at least runners-up spot in this year’s Gulf Premiership and with that, the all-important place in the Gulf Top Six competition in the New Year.

Aside from that, it will also set them up for a title-decider against reigning champions Doha in Janabiya on November 8.

While all that is going on in Oman on Friday, the next generation of Bahrain first XV players will be representing the club at the Etihad Airways Junior Rugby Festival in Abu Dhabi.

Organised by the Abu Dhabi Harlequins, the tournament will take place at the city’s Shaikh Zayed Sports City and forms the first segment of this year’s Junior Rugby Series.

The Bahrain under-10s, under-12s and under-14s squads will be competing against the best teams from around the Gulf in what, now in its third year, has become the feature junior rugby event across the region. The series will visit Dubai and Doha before landing in Bahrain in the New Year.

On Friday afternoon there’s also live cricket action as close friends the Awali Taverners take on the touring Darjeeling CC from the UAE in the first match of a two-game series.

Following the conclusion of that match there’s more live rugby to savour as the Bahrain Golden Oldies welcome the locally-based Lanka Lions and NSA Bucks, as well as old rivals Khobar Quins, for a 15-aside round-robin tournament.