UAE Rugby lauded for fielding Emiratis at Malaysia Sevens

UAE Rugby fielding an all-Emirati side for the first time at the HSBC Asian Seven Series faced a baptism of fire on the opening day of the Malaysia Sevens on Saturday August 31.

Drawn in Pool C, they lost both matches against Chinese Taipei 32-0 and Philippines 38-0.

They are not disheartened by these losses because they were beaten by two top ranked sides.

Chinese Taipei finished third in the Asian Sevens Series last year while Philippines took fourth spot.

More significantly, UAE Rugby have managed to unearth future stars of the game by making a historic decision to go with Emirati players this season in the four-leg Asian Sevens Series.

"Yes, UAE Rugby 7s has been defeated twice today but we won new Emirati faces for future debuts," said Qais Abdulla Al Dhalai, secretary general of the UAE Rugby Federation (UAERF).

Their campaign is not over yet as they are scheduled to face Singapore in the Bowl semifinals on Sunday September 1.

"UAE Rugby 7s has four youngsters aged 18 years who played internationally for the first time. Players like Majed Albalooshi, Shaheen Ismail and Adel Al Hendi are all UAERF's fruitful products out the Player Pathway Program PPP which is sponsored by HSBC," said Al Dhalai who is head of the UAE delegation in Malaysia.

The UAERF board took a decision to select only UAE nationals for the four legs of the Asian Sevens Series which also includes competitions in Thailand, Mumbai and Singapore.

"UAERF board of directors decided to keep investing in rugby 7s and named an Emirati squad for this year Asian Sevens Series to gain experience and as a step forward to achieve further milestones such as 2014 Asian Olympic Games," said Al Dhalai.

UAE have been lauded for fielding an all-Emirati who held Chinese Taipei to 7-0 in the first half.

"I consider having the support of the UAE local media is vital in particular with the current newly Emirati squad. We've been treated with an extreme respect by ARFU (Asian Rugby Football Union) and the IRB (International Rugby Board) executives and media here in KL (Kuala Lumpur) for our decision of having an Emirati squad," said Al Dhalai.

"UAERF will continue working with all state schools in the UAE to boost our grassroots program to recruit more Majids and Adels," he added.