Dubai : For the British Army's rugby team the phrase ‘going on tour' means something completely different, and it doesn't involve rugby.
Their ‘frontline' is also far removed from the usual sporting terminology, as is the inevitability of ‘losing a player'.
Coach John Voss has selection headaches no usual manager will have to put up with. His skipper is away on bomb disposal duty and another key player is on special operations somewhere in the Middle East.
The team representing Her Majesty's Armed Forces at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the International Men's Invitation this weekend is by no means their strongest as a consequence.
"We're soldiers first and sportsmen second," said Voss. "That makes it hugely challenging to form a team because I constantly have players in Afghanistan and other locations around the world."
After the tournament his players will return to their regiments in UK and Germany and from there be go to the frontline. Voss explained his young squad of 12 has had 23 operational tours of duty between them, which lasts 18-months with build-up and run-down periods either side of an ‘active' six-month posting.
Tragic events
He ‘lost a player' this year in Afghanistan and said circumstances surrounding such tragic events, which unfortunately all too often befall the squad, strangely ‘solidify' his players.
"When you lose a member of the armed forces who's in the Army Rugby Union you believe even more in what you're playing for, you're playing for the shirt. The guys will look inwardly and see it as a loss of a brother. Whether you work and fight together on the battlefield or on the sports pitch it's exactly the same — you fight."
Fighting is exactly what his side is doing in Group D of the Men's International Invitation. They've won both their games against Spartak MG and Homeboyz RFC 38-17 and 33-12 respectively and qualify top of their group given that their last match of the day was a bye.
"We put everything behind this physically and spiritually to come here and win. If we don't we'll be hugely disappointed. But there are a lot of good teams out there so we can't be too arrogant and think we're going to walk through it," he said.
Men's International Invitation:
Group A
Marauders Int. - Bye
France Dev. 47-5 Enisey STM
Marauders Int. 61 -0 Enisey STM
France Dev. - Bye
Marauders Int. 12-0 France Dev.
Bye - Enisey STM
Group B
HFW Wailers 31-7 Yug
Georgian Sevens - Bye
HFW Wailers - Bye
Georgian Sevens 19-17 Yug
Georgian Sevens - Bye
HFW Wailers 38 - 7 Georgian Sevens
Group C
Bye - Moscow Region
Templars 7 RFC 21-7 Black Stallions
Templars 7 RFC 34-0 Moscow Region
Bye - Black Stallions
Moscow Region 20-0 Black Stallions
Bye - Templars 7 RFC
Group D
Bye - Homeboyz
British Army 38-17 Spartak MG
Bye - Spartak MG
British Army 33-12 Homeboyz
Homeboyz 24-0 Spartak MG
Bye - British Army
