DUBAI - The iRB World Series is a major international sporting event with the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens being the opening tournament of the 2007/08 series. An early sell out is testament to the popularity of this event where regional clubs have the opportunity to share the spotlight with national teams from around the globe. The Agility Kuwait Nomads travelled with a 130 strong contingent of players and supporters, with five teams invited to participate in this fantastic rugby spectacular. It is one of the club's highlights of the season. The Kuwait Nomads five teams included Men's 1st and 2nd teams, Veterans, Ladies and Under 19s and they all play in the Gulf section of the tournament organised by the Arabian Gulf Rugby Union. The AGRFU who are based in Dubai have been awarded to host the 2009 Rugby World Cup sevens and a brand new six pitch state of the art complex is currently under construction for the staging of this event.
The Agility Kuwait Nomad's Men's 1st team, headed by their captain, Ryan Erickson, put on a superb display of the team's capabilities and played extremely well. Pulling together as a team they came through the gruelling pool stages convincingly against teams from Jeddah, Dubai and Cairo on their first day, leaving them well placed for their second day of the competition and into the quarterfinals. Taking their place on the main pitch of the event, pitch 1, with thousands of cheering crowds, was well deserved. Here, once again the Kuwait Nomads 1st team played some fast and furious rugby to gain a very well respected place in the Gulf Men's Dallah Cup semi-final.
However, despite their determination, the Kuwait Nomads lost the semi-final against tough opposition. This year's sevens tournament was a total success for the organisers with capacity crowds all enjoying superb rugby, which led to an awesome atmosphere. The main final of this iRB Dubai World Sevens Series saw a thrilling end to the weekend between New Zealand and Fiji with New Zealand, last year's series winners, beating the extremely popular Fijian side 31-21. Kuwait Nomads RFC would like to thank their sponsors, Agility, Amec, CS and KOC for their continued support.
Please visit the Agility Kuwait Nomads website: www.q8nomads.com
© Arab Times 2007
