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THE campaigning Crusaders rugby stars will be touching down in Bahrain today from the UK to help kick-start the GREAT British Week celebrations on a sporting front.
They will enjoy a gala charity dinner at the Bahrain Rugby Football Club in Janaibiya tomorrow evening before playing against the home side’s Chairman’s XV on Friday in a carnival day of rugby action.
The Crusaders RFC is a unique rugby club for players and ex-players that have either had cancer themselves or had a family member suffering from the disease and the visit to Bahrain has been made possible thanks to sponsorship by Banz Group and support by Bahrain International Travel, Dome Café and KLM.
Chairman Mehdi Honar said: “The event ties in nicely with the GREAT British Week celebrations at the club with the added measure of highlighting an all-important message concerning men’s health.
“Bahrain RFC as a community club is playing a role of helping to persuade people to be more aware of the symptoms of cancer.
“Many men are dying from their own ignorance and are scared to get help even when they know that they have a problem and so the Crusaders, with our support, are leading the charge to change this.”
Based out of the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, The Crusaders RFC was launched six years ago by rugby enthusiast John Munro, who lost his wife Debbie to cancer in 2005, with the aim of raising awareness of male cancers within the rugby community and supporting fellow rugby players in need of help.
Since then the Crusaders have participated in a host of veterans’ Sevens and Tens tournaments, including Amsterdam, Melrose and Edinburgh, as well as special charity fixtures, and today will link up with the Gulf States.
They have also welcomed the support of some of the biggest names in world rugby such as former Scotland captain Eric Peters and New Zealand’s World Cup-winning fly-half Aaron Cruden, both of whom are former cancer patients themselves, and British and Irish Lions star Stuart Hogg.
One of main driving forces behind the club today is ex-Edinburgh and Scotland ‘A’ prop Duncan Wilson, himself another player who has suffered from cancer.
Wilson is a good friend of Bahrain RFC through his many appearances for the visiting ‘International XV’, and it was he who made the initial link between the two parties.
Over the course of its 40-plus year history, Bahrain Rugby Football Club (RFC) has developed strong and lasting friendships with clubs around the world. The Crusaders were named as one of the beneficiaries of funds raised during the annual Bahrain RFC Veterans’ Midnight Tens tournament last year, as reported in GulfWeekly.
Bahrain chairman and seasoned cancer charity campaigner Honar met Wilson, affectionately known as ‘Big Dunc’, and other club representatives at the home of Scottish rugby, Murrayfield in Edinburgh.
After presenting a Bahrain flag, club plaque and playing jersey as well as a hefty donation, which will go towards the purchase of specialised testing equipment that will travel on tour with the Crusaders, Honar soon got round to discussing further tie-ups between the two clubs.
First on the agenda was this week’s visit by the Crusaders to Bahrain. A playing party of 22 is flying over from the UK and its members will be joined by three UAE-based players. They have picked up a glowing reputation of being a tough side to beat, so the Chairman’s XV will have to be on top of its game to compete.
Players to watch out for include Mark Dainter, ex-London Wasps and Nottingham RFC, whose professional rugby career was cut short when he was diagnosed with a rare cancer called a schwannoma, which appeared in his chest, David McIvor, who broke into the Scotland side for the 1992 Five Nations Championship, and former Scotland U21 star Wilson who can also perform a few tricks off the pitch too and is a member of the Edinburgh Magic Circle.
* Tickets for tomorrow’s Crusaders Charity Dinner are available from the club’s reception. As well as dinner, the evening’s entertainment will feature guest speakers in the form of Crusaders co-founder Wilson and former Scottish international Marcus Di Rollo, a live DJ and a bumper charity auction.
Tickets are priced at BD20. For more information, contact info@bahrainrfc.com
