Dubai: Expatriate oil workers tasked with spreading rugby to a nation of devout football lovers. Sound familiar?
If the UAE Rugby Association needed a case study on which to base their development, they should look no further than the Nigerian teams on display in the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, which kicked off yesterday.
CMB Building Maintenance, from Lagos, beat Pakistan's Lahore 47-0 in their opening International Open Men's Pool match with a side made up entirely of nationals. Meanwhile the UAE RA, just one year old, makes its Sevens World Series debut tomorrow with just two Emiratis in the squad.
Cowrie RFC, as the Nigerian team is better known, was only founded in 2005 to develop the game and empower local youths, but since then they've played in three Dubai Sevens events and twice made the quarter-finals of their IOM category. That's something they are looking to surpass this year despite the prospect of having to overcome their own national team The Black Stallions to get there.
Youth system
Dele Coker, team manager and founder, said: "All our boys are very much local and have come through our youth system hoping to prove themselves at this year's event. I absolutely believe the UAE could take something from the example of how African nations have suddenly spread the sport.
"The essence of our club is to give grassroots boys an opportunity to experience not just rugby but a modern city. Lagos is third world and these boys literally only have the shirts on their backs, but rugby has given them focus.
"They have natural agility and strength and are obviously mad on football, so love running. The youngsters have taken to the sport well, they get very excited. All the boys come from big families and the sport's influence is spreading in towns and villages throughout Nigeria."
Team coach Roger Coombs added: "I go to a different school everyday and the kids love it. We lack infrastructure and need more equipment — they only play on sand. I took a class of 80 the other day and we only had one ball, but luckily I brought a bag of new ones. To play on grass here in Dubai is a dream to them.
"I've only been out there four months but they have picked up the sport in schools very well. What used to be sand pitches dedicated solely to football are now turning to rugby. But African countries have been too sevens conscious, we must start with XVs too.
"We tell the kids from wealthier families, who will study outside in private schools in the UK, that there they will play rugby so they should learn the game now.
"But we've also gone into federal schools as well where the sport is also having a big impact on their lives. People are beginning to understand the game and what messages it carries. The effect is very positive."
Part of curriculum
Former Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU) chairman Andy Cole said: "We went on tour to East Africa in the late 1990s and rugby there was minimal, but to go back now you'll see it's exploded within schools and colleges and teams are coming to Dubai and doing very well despite adversity.
"There's definitely a model for the UAE RA to follow there. They are getting it into schools here but until its part of the national education curriculum here the UAE RA will still have to rely on expatriate players, too."
