Hayd Palmer, the young centre and a product of Arabian Gulf rugby, made a try-scoring debut in the Welsh Premiership at the weekend. Palmer, a former Dubai Hurricanes junior, touched down for Newport in a win over Neath.
Father’s son
Palmer became the first, and so far only, player to follow his father to representative honours in this country when he played for the Arabian Gulf at the 2010 Dubai Sevens. His Welsh Premiership debut completed another family double, too. Father Nigel played top-flight rugby in Wales for Cross Keys before moving to the Gulf with work in 1995.
Gulf raised
Palmer, now 23, was three years old when the family upped sticks, first to Bahrain, and learnt all his rugby in this region before moving to Cardiff for university. After missing two years of rugby due to an ankle injury, he played in the second-tier Welsh Championship last season, and also trained with the Welsh sevens side.
UAE’s finest
Having captained Newport in a sevens tournament at Cardiff Arms Park, he was promoted to the first XV to play at Premiership level. His success is the latest evidence that players produced in the desert can be good enough to cut it in the professional leagues of the United Kingdom.
Exiled exiles
Jordan Onojaife, a former basketball player who first tried rugby when the Jumeirah College team were short, debuted for Northampton Saints in England’s Premiership in January. Iziq Foa’i left Abu Dhabi this summer to dovetail study with pursuing a rugby league contract, while Will Wilson, a former Dubai Exile, has been playing for England’s junior sevens side.
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