Left to Right. DuRandt Gerber, Robbie Sproul, Carel Thomas, and Epeli Davetawalu
The United Arab Emirates enjoyed their trip to Qatar over the weekend with both the men’s and women’s squads returning as The Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy Tournament Champions.
In the women’s competition, the UAE defeated tournament hosts Qatar in a one-sided final, taking the spoils by 41 points to nil.
The UAE women had a near perfect record, only a 5 – 5 draw in Round 3 of the pool matches against a speedy Iran team stopped a 100% win record.
Robbie Sproul finished as the UAE’s top scorer with 29 points
Exiles’ DuRandt Gerber is assistant UAE 7s Coach to Apollo Perelini
In the men’s competition, a UAE team featuring Dubai Exiles RFC’s Epeli Davetawalu, Robert Sproul, and Carel Thomas battled their way through to a final against Iran.
With the tournament being streamed live from Qatar via the Asia Rugby Facebook page and the Asia Rugby YouTube channel, audible groans of frustration could be heard across the UAE when the feed from Qatar was lost just before the men’s final. A final in which Apollo Perelini’s team, also coached by Exiles’ DuRandt Gerber, defeated a more than competent Iran side by 38 points to 14.
Young Robert Sproul finished the tournament as UAE top scorer, contributing 29 points. Epeli Davetawalu wasn’t far behind with 22.
That’s a clean sweep and 3 out of 3 for the UAE with the Under 18 Girls winning the Asia Rugby Under 18 Girls Championships in Tashkent in September.
Well done to everyone involved with UAE rugby!
Exiles‘ fleet footed scrum half, Carel Thomas, had a great tournament
