Dubai: The UAE national rugby 15s team came from behind to beat Chinese Taipei 16-12 to finish second in Division Two of the Asian Rugby Championship in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
Michael Botha put the UAE in front with an early try, but Lin Wei-ming and Chang Lun-wei replied with a conversion from Hsueh Yuan-che.
Hassan Al Noobi edged the UAE back with a penalty before the break but Chinese Taipei were still ahead at the interval 12-8.
Chris Jones Griffiths then got the UAE narrowly back in front after half-time before Al Noobi fired another penalty to seal the victory in their third and final game of the series.
The UAE had beaten Thailand 53-22 last Saturday before an agonising 20-19 defeat to Malaysia on Wednesday.
Malaysia topped the four-team division and won promotion to Division One by beating Chinese Taipei 46-13 and Thailand 53-7 either side of the UAE game. Thailand finished bottom of the group and were relegated to Division Three after losing their pivotal clash with Chinese Taipei 29-24 midweek.
In all there were mixed emotions for the UAE’s Al Noobi, who despite becoming the first Emirati to score a try in international 15s rugby in the opening game against Thailand, went on to miss two late penalties in the game against Malaysia, which could have earned his team promotion at Malaysia’s expense.