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The United Arab Emirates made its bow on the international rugby league stage in Bhamdoun on Saturday afternoon, but after a match high in both quality and entertainment it was the Bank of Beirut Espoirs who took the plaudits in front of their vocal home support to register a fifth consecutive win. The UAE Rugby League XIII, representing the games newest organisation, fielded some skilful players, such as former Gloucester rugby union centre Duncan Murray and Belconnen Warriors three-quarter Josh Dransfield whose captaincy of the side was cut short after an early concussion - as well as other Antipodean, Lebanese and English rugby league players amongst an eclectic mix of nationalities and experience levels.
But it was the Lebanese who stamped their authority on the game from the opening set. Front rows Robin Hachache and Mounir Finan slammed into the visitors line with relish, with Hachache making the first bust of the game to score in the third minute. The world cup tourist then repeated the dose in the 7th minute, breaking the defence to power home from 20-metres. But the UAE showed that, given the opportunity to attack, they could be dangerous to a side that prides itself on its defensive muscle. A long pass from hooker Bill Asmar found Murray, whose rifled ball put Dave Bulmer into space, with the stocky second row muscling his way past Ghassan Dandash and Wael Harb to score a historic first try for the UAE.
The Espoirs wrestled back the initiative, helped in no small measure by man-of-the-match Adel Kanso, who came off the interchange to terrorize the black and reds defence, leading a go-forward effort that set a wonderful platform for the victory. In the 13th minute captain Pierre Nasr, playing his first match at stand-off at club or rep level, used impressive centre Mohamed Jamil as a decoy from a scrum move before darting through to score under the black dot. Four minutes later, AUB wing Wael Harb registered the first of his two long range tries to make it 22-0. Crafty hooker Fadi Azam, who was perfect with the boot all day, converted, then proceeded to score all the Espoirs remaining points in the half a penalty, a try and a fifth successive conversion on the way to a team record haul of 22-points.
Both sides then had a try disallowed by referee Faysal Jaber before the Gulf side closed out the half through hooker Bill Asmars 30th minute sneak from dummy half. Hassan Al-Noobi kicked the conversion to become the first Emirati to score in rugby league history. Lebanese-Australian Asmar, one of five players from the UAEs champion Dubai Hurricanes union club, got the ball rolling in the second period, scoring a carbon copy try from dummy half to make it 32-14. That score ensured as tough and torrid a second half as had been the first, with both sides lifting their defensive efforts. But the Espoirs swapped cudgel for rapier to re-establish their 22-point lead on 49 minutes. Halves Danny Chemaly and Nasr linked with Jamil in midfield, with the LAU captain drawing a defender before passing to Balamand debutant Riad Khoury, whose final pass put AUB wing Megho Keychian over for a fine try. Azam then matched his opposite number by scoring his second from close range before the UAE side scored its best try of the day. South African second row Joshua Sherrin, heavily involved defensively all day, showed his threat with ball in hand, getting outside Dandash on a ball from Murray and roaring home from 35-metres. The home side fittingly had the last word to cap an impressive display, rated Liban Espoirs best ever by the coaching staff, with the quicksilver Harb slicing through on the halfway line and just managing to stay away from the pursuit.
The UAE team will now return home to begin the important task of forming rugby league clubs to play in the UAEs inaugural championship, slated to begin in November. Sherrin, the UAEs best on the day, was keen for more after his first taste of The Greatest Game: I have never done so many big tackles in a game before and I have never been smashed so many times in a game before!
The LRLC will try to organize more fixtures for the Espoirs as preparation for the RLEFs Euro-Med Challenge against Serbia and Russia this autumn after a proposed Great Britain amateurs tour in July fell through due to travel advisory warnings to Lebanon upheld by the British government.
The United Arab Emirates made its bow on the international rugby league stage in Bhamdoun on Saturday afternoon, but after a match high in both quality and entertainment it was the Bank of Beirut Espoirs who took the plaudits in front of their vocal home support to register a fifth consecutive win. The UAE Rugby League XIII, representing the games newest organisation, fielded some skilful players, such as former Gloucester rugby union centre Duncan Murray and Belconnen Warriors three-quarter Josh Dransfield whose captaincy of the side was cut short after an early concussion - as well as other Antipodean, Lebanese and English rugby league players amongst an eclectic mix of nationalities and experience levels.
But it was the Lebanese who stamped their authority on the game from the opening set. Front rows Robin Hachache and Mounir Finan slammed into the visitors line with relish, with Hachache making the first bust of the game to score in the third minute. The world cup tourist then repeated the dose in the 7th minute, breaking the defence to power home from 20-metres. But the UAE showed that, given the opportunity to attack, they could be dangerous to a side that prides itself on its defensive muscle. A long pass from hooker Bill Asmar found Murray, whose rifled ball put Dave Bulmer into space, with the stocky second row muscling his way past Ghassan Dandash and Wael Harb to score a historic first try for the UAE.
The Espoirs wrestled back the initiative, helped in no small measure by man-of-the-match Adel Kanso, who came off the interchange to terrorize the black and reds defence, leading a go-forward effort that set a wonderful platform for the victory. In the 13th minute captain Pierre Nasr, playing his first match at stand-off at club or rep level, used impressive centre Mohamed Jamil as a decoy from a scrum move before darting through to score under the black dot. Four minutes later, AUB wing Wael Harb registered the first of his two long range tries to make it 22-0. Crafty hooker Fadi Azam, who was perfect with the boot all day, converted, then proceeded to score all the Espoirs remaining points in the half a penalty, a try and a fifth successive conversion on the way to a team record haul of 22-points.
Ghassan Dandash is upended in one of the games many big hits
The UAE team will now return home to begin the important task of forming rugby league clubs to play in the UAEs inaugural championship, slated to begin in November. Sherrin, the UAEs best on the day, was keen for more after his first taste of The Greatest Game: I have never done so many big tackles in a game before and I have never been smashed so many times in a game before!
The LRLC will try to organize more fixtures for the Espoirs as preparation for the RLEFs Euro-Med Challenge against Serbia and Russia this autumn after a proposed Great Britain amateurs tour in July fell through due to travel advisory warnings to Lebanon upheld by the British government.
