Dubai: The UAE beat Thailand 53-22 in their Asian Rugby Championship division two opener in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Sunday.
Three tries from Chris Jones-Griffiths, Jaen Botes and Ed Lewsey with one conversion and a penalty from Clint Berkenshaw saw the UAE take a narrow 20-17 lead into the interval.
Phil Brady, Hasan Al Noubi, Jonathon Greenwood, Adam Telford and Matthew Hutchings then piled on the pressure, with four conversions coming from Al Noubi to end things 53-22.
The UAE will next play Malaysia on Wednesday and Chinese Taipei on Saturday. The winner of this four-team round-robin will earn promotion to division one next season.
Elsewhere, the UAE Rugby Federation (UAE RF) announced that they had taken action against Sol Mokdad for unauthorised representation of UAE sovereignty by illegally claiming the title of President of UAE Rugby League.
The UAE RF is the sole official governing body for any code of rugby within the UAE’s jurisdiction, this includes Union, League and Touch. No other entity is recognised by the UAE’s General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW) and only Emiratis can hold governmental positions.
Mokdad has been detained by Dubai Police where it was discovered he had been living in the UAE illegally, thereby breaching the country’s residency and immigration legislation with the UAE immigration department filing a separate case.
