Well it’s taken me a whole week to write up a summary of the Dubai 7s, probably because that whole time was spent catching up on sleep, getting students final grades together, and getting more sleep. Really, did we sleep at all in Dubai? I, for one, don’t think I did.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any pics for the folks back home of myself playing rugby this weekend. I didn’t make the starting line-up for the Falcons, but the Yenbo, KSA team needed some extra players, so I had the privilege to play with six Saudi dudes. As is often the case when playing with Saudis, their athleticism and heart was through the roof, however they literally had no idea where to be or what to do with the ball. Let’s put it this way, any team where I’m the one with the most experience is a team in trouble. So we didn’t win any games, but we did have a lot of fun, and I got to watch Riyadh play from the sidelines.

Excuse me. Due to some political reorganization within the KSA rugby hierarchy, our teams weren’t allowed to call ourselves “Riyadh”. So we were simply the Falcons (my team) and the Scorpions (the over-35 team).

While the Scorpions are ostensibly an over-35 team, it might be more accurate to label them a “circa fifty” team. Let’s put it this way. Usually when you’re on the sidelines in a rugby game, you’ll hear people cheer things like “Faster faster!” “Get in position!” “Oh what a hit!”, etc. While I was on the sidelines watching the Scorpions, the most common cheer was something along the lines of “Get up! Get on your feet! KEEP MOVING!”

Teasing aside, the Scorpions made a respectable showing considering they had not had many chances to play together this season. Ultimately the pesky Serco Seniles defeated us in the Plate Semi-Final, but overall the fellows outscored their opponents 41-34, and if their fitness level catches up with their talent, the other teams in the region better look out.

The Falcons started the weekend slow, but by the end of the tournament they looked marvelous. They kicked off Thursday with a couple tough losses to Kuwait and Sharjah, but I suspect this may be partly due to the chance to play less inter-club matches than big teams from somewhere like the UAE are able to do. Likewise, with a relatively small club, injuries are a serious concern, so we try to avoid a ton of contact in practice. But once the guys got loosened up, they started to look quite tough, beating up on the Arabian Knights 43-0. Friday and Saturday they looked good as well, winning through until the ultimately losing the Plate Final to the Dubai Exiles. I hope that all the guys left the field with heads held high. If that same team gets to play and practice together for a year, they’ll return to Dubai next year with a serious chance at taking home some hardware.

Of course, if there’s one place a guy can be self serving, it better be his blog, so I’ll take this platform to state my intent to make the team next year. My fitness isn’t quite up to where it ought to be, and my skill and rugby instincts will probably never quite be up to the level of guys who have been learning the sport since the age when I’d only ever heard of American football, baseball, and basketball. But my goal for the next year is improve to the point where I can be at least considered for a spot playing in Dubai. The opportunity to practice with the team has been so good for me. Through my involvement, I’ve snapped out of the fatty malaise that plagued my first few months in KSA. I’ve made a few mistakes that have taught me some tough personal lessons, but ultimately I’ve become part of a stellar community and made some great friends. For a while, I wasn’t sure if this would be my last year in Saudi Arabia. But a few big things coming into my life this fall have helped me decide that I’ll be here again next year. And one of those elements is the Falcons RFC.

– photo credits to George Thomas and Simon Hill

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