When Covid brought an abrupt halt to world sport, as well as everything else, one of its many effects was to end the longest sequence in UAE sporting history.
For the first time in 51 years, there would be no Emirates Dubai Sevens. The absence of a tournament which predates the formation of the country was sorely felt.
By the time rugby restarted after the pandemic, the landscape had altered. Some slipped straight back into the old routine. South Africa, for example, have won the main event three times in two years since the tournament resumed.
Others faltered. Dubai Hurricanes were the region’s leading force in the abridged format before Covid, winning titles in 2018 and 2019.
They were deprived of a three-peat by the pandemic, and have struggled to get moving since. Last season, one of the region’s biggest clubs did not even field a team in the Premiership for XVs. Neither have they returned to a sevens final.
Now they are fighting back, having assembled a coaching team who know what it is like to taste success at the Sevens.
Mike Wernham, who was the club’s director of rugby when they went back-to-back in 2018 and 2019, has returned.
And the team’s coach is Henry Paul, the former England player who tasted title glory at the Sevens before it was even played at its current site.
Paul was part of the winning England side in the world series tournament back in 2005, which was played at the old Dubai Exiles ground in Al Awir.
He first moved to Dubai in 2016 to dovetail working at a school with coaching Jebel Ali Dragons. He spent four years with Canada’s XVs and sevens sides but returned to Dubai at the start of this year.
“I’m really excited to see what the future holds here for me,” Paul said. “We have six or seven guys who have played for UAE in the past and are fringe players now. They are raring to go. Some have won the Sevens before, others haven’t.
“We have a crack squad and we are really lucky to have this type of quality, but it is a really tough comp. Everyone wants to win it because it is such a great event, so we are not taking anything for granted.”
Hurricanes play JESS in practice game for Dubai 7s
All the sides entering the Gulf Men’s event at the Sevens are of a similar mind. With the likes of Saki Naisau, Niko Volavola and Charlie Taylor in their ranks, defending champs Dubai Tigers will remain the team to beat.
But, with enough personnel still around from the back-to-back winning years, Wernham is hopeful the Hurricanes can make an impression on the competition. He says he is intent on helping the club back towards the top echelons of Gulf rugby, having returned at the start of this season.
“I had been up to watch and it was breaking my heart,” Wernham said of being absent from the club after stepping away for personal reasons.
We have a crack squad and we are really lucky to have this type of quality, but it is a really tough comp
Henry Paul,
Dubai Hurricanes coach
“It is a big passion of mine, given the amount of time I had put in with these lads. The whole club, with the way it is run and its ethos, I was missing it.”
Their prospects have been buoyed by the return of Boris Finck, the captain last time Hurricanes won it, who was absent from the sevens last year.
“I remember looking at Boris and the look in his eye was like a boy going to Disneyland for the first time, then it was the same with the 11 players behind him,” Wernham said of the title wins.
“I would love to be able to see that image again. We are not going to be spoken about much and that is great. That is how we won it the first year.
“I am just really, really excited about watching this team play sevens. The depth is going to make a big difference for us.
“Trying to get on Pitch 1 [for the final] is not easy. I am talking about us really positively but I know the strength the other clubs have got. It is going to be exciting.”
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
THE SPECS
Engine: six-litre W12 twin-turbo
Transmission: eight-speed dual clutch auto
Power: 626bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh940,160 (plus VAT)
On sale: Q1 2020
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Most wanted allegations
- Benjamin Macann, 32: involvement in cocaine smuggling gang.
- Jack Mayle, 30: sold drugs from a phone line called the Flavour Quest.
- Callum Halpin, 27: over the 2018 murder of a rival drug dealer.
- Asim Naveed, 29: accused of being the leader of a gang that imported cocaine.
- Calvin Parris, 32: accused of buying cocaine from Naveed and selling it on.
- John James Jones, 31: allegedly stabbed two people causing serious injuries.
- Callum Michael Allan, 23: alleged drug dealing and assaulting an emergency worker.
- Dean Garforth, 29: part of a crime gang that sold drugs and guns.
- Joshua Dillon Hendry, 30: accused of trafficking heroin and crack cocain.
- Mark Francis Roberts, 28: grievous bodily harm after a bungled attempt to steal a £60,000 watch.
- James ‘Jamie’ Stevenson, 56: for arson and over the seizure of a tonne of cocaine.
- Nana Oppong, 41: shot a man eight times in a suspected gangland reprisal attack.
Super Bowl LIII schedule
What Super Bowl LIII
Who is playing New England Patriots v Los Angeles Rams
Where Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, United States
When Sunday (start time is 3.30am on Monday UAE time)
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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'O'
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THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
