JUST CHAMPION!

Bahrain Rugby Football Club’s (RFC) under-12 players made history over the weekend as they became the first team from outside the UAE to be crowned HSBC Junior Rugby Series champions.

The fourth and final round of this season’s series took place at Doha RFC on Friday and after two finals appearances – in Abu Dhabi and Dubai – and victory in their home tournament back in February, the Bahrain boys went into the tournament as the number one side in the standings.

Things didn’t quite go to plan in the opening match of the day, however, as Bahrain continued their habit of being ‘slow-starters’ in slumping to a one-try defeat to hosts Doha in a very physical battle.

That defeat meant that the next group game against Dubai Hurricanes was  a ‘must-win’ encounter for them to reach the knockout stages and thankfully, the forwards in particular stepped up to the plate and Josh Cornelius’ brace of tries settled the scores.

Having negotiated their way through the group, a semi-final meeting with a strong Abu Dhabi Harlequins outfit was the ‘reward’ in the semi-final and when Quins’ claimed the opening try of the match, a lesser side may well have faltered.  

The Bahrain U12s are made of sterner stuff though and again it was the forwards who took the game to their opponents and took control of the breakdown, inspired by the impressive Tom Watson and ably assisted by Alex Mottram, Ben Brandreth, Ben Ceaplen and Ioannis Rachiotis.

Bahrain’s player-of-the-tournament, scrum-half Raef Tanner, was then able to supply his backs with some good quality front-foot ball, which set up Cornelius and captain Callum Matthews to score the tries that sent Bahrain into the final.

Somewhat surprisingly, Bahrain’s fierce rivals and their nearest challengers to the overall title Dubai Exiles failed to emerge from the other half of the draw and so it meant a rematch with Doha and a chance to make amends for that earlier defeat.

The final was an epic and evenly-contested battle but thankfully, Bahrain kept arguably their best performance of the season until last and, with massive defensive contributions from the likes of Brad Lenard, Grady Pope, Jack Hayes, Tommy McPhail, Owen Flannery and Spike Thomas, captain Matthews scored the decisive try to land his side the title and that of 2013-2014 HSBC Gulf Series champions.

An emotional head coach Dave Edwards could not speak highly enough of his players. “To say I am proud of these guys and what they have achieved this season doesn’t even come close,” he said.

“To beat the big clubs from the UAE is a magnificent achievement and after all the hard work they have put in, not just this season but over the last couple of years, they thoroughly deserve every moment of this.” 

Bahrain RFC chairman Mehdi Honar, meanwhile, also said he was proud of all those involved. “This is a very proud occasion for Bahrain RFC and I’m delighted for all the players, coaches, parents and everyone involved. For a club of our size to compete with some of the others around the region is a significant achievement but it shows that we have the strength and ability to do so. I would like to congratulate all the Bahrain teams involved in this season’s HSBC series.”

Also adding his congratulations, a spokesman for the HSBC Series, said: “Congratulations to the Bahrain U12s who thoroughly deserved the title, which is the first to be won by a team from outside the UAE at any age group since the series began in 2011. They were worthy winners.”

Although the under-12s were the big winners among the teams who travelled to Doha over the weekend, it was a big day for all the Bahrain squads.

The under-10s had been one of the most consistent teams in the competition all day and continued to punch above their weight on Friday, while the other Bahrain team in contention for the HSBC Series title, the under-8s came up just short in a sudden-death defeat to hosts Doha in the semi-final.

Most significantly, the Bahrain under-6s travelled to their first ever overseas tournament and, with most of the squad enjoying their first ever taste of competitive rugby, they had a magnificent weekend.