An Abu Dhabi-based maths teacher who was prevented from playing rugby after suffering cancer as a small child has achieved a lifelong ambition by joining the World Sevens Series as a referee.
Jaco de Wit, 30, has been given leave from teaching duties at Cambridge High School in the capital to officiate at the highest level of sevens rugby.
The South Africa-born official debuted on the series in the behind-closed-door tournament in Dubai last weekend.
A week later, his busy first day in front of the packed stands of the Emirates Dubai Sevens included overseeing a shock 33-19 win by Spain over double Olympic champions Fiji.
The fact he has reached such lofty heights in the game is a remarkable triumph over adversity for someone who survived a cancerous tumour “the size of an ostrich egg” in his childhood.
“I had cancer when I was three years old which meant removing one of my kidneys,” De Wit said.
“I was never allowed to play rugby, but when I went to boarding house, obviously I tried my luck without my parents knowing. I studied the game from a young age because I just loved it so much.
“I picked up a whistle when I was 11 years old. At the age of 17 I decided I wanted to do this full time, because it’s the closest I can be to rugby.”
Elevation to the very top tier of officials in the abridged format has been the realisation of a dream which De Wit acknowledged he had all but given up on.
After a decade of refereeing in his native South Africa, which included serving an admin role on the sidelines at the George Sevens, he took up a job teaching in the UAE five years ago.
“When I moved here I basically just thought I needed to get my job done, but I packed my whistle like I normally do, wherever I go,” De Wit said.
“I joined a training session for the first time [with UAE referees]. I liked the environment. It was all good fun. I worked my way up to Asia Rugby, refereeing some sevens and XVs.”
When an official dropped out of the series of matches over two weekends in Dubai last year, which were organised to provide practice for the teams heading to the World Cup, De Wit received a call to help out.
Gallery from Day 1 of Dubai Sevens
“That was my opportunity,” he said. “I just wanted to do the job to the best of my ability and just enjoy it. I saw that as my one opportunity on the big stage.
“It went well, then in July I got an email from World Rugby telling me I had been nominated [to officiate on the World Series].
“When I received that, I contacted [UAE’s head of referees] Eugene Deegan, and said, ‘What is this?’ It was like a dream. Seeing my name on it was just surreal.
“It was stuff I had been dreaming of, but had given up on a little bit. Especially during Covid, when you keep training but you don’t know for what.
“Then on weekends you start meeting friends and family, you have a braai, and you think, ‘Well this is actually not too bad’. I almost thought, ‘Well, this is me’.
“When that call came, it all changed. It gave me the motivation to train again. It is wonderful to be part of the game we all love so much. I feel blessed, really.”
De Wit acknowledged there are differences between the usual games he covers, namely UAE domestic matches, and those on the World Series.
“First game out, I’m not going to lie — it was something totally different in terms of breakdowns,” De Wit said.
“It was a lot quicker, and obviously you have to add the stress factor of it being the first time out in the middle on the big stage. You tend to overthink a little bit.
“It took me two games to settle down. Now it is just a different ball game for me, really.”
Aside from the speed and technical differences of the games on the series, De Wit has also had to familiarise himself with the process of reviewing tight try decisions with the aid of technology.
During the Spain win over Fiji on Friday, he had to rule on one such incident, with the help of his fellow UAE referee Tony Duminy, who was an assistant ref for the fixture.
“It was a lot worse in the first weekend,” De Wit said of being self-conscious when seeing himself on the big-screen when reviewing a decision.
“You see yourself running out, and when you award a try you are just double-checking. I don’t know if that is a good thing.
“You get used to it, and if you do make a mistake, you just have to put it in a black box straight away and forget about it. Afterwards you can kick yourself on the backside and move on a learn from it.”
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
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Canada
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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Fight card
Preliminaries:
Nouredine Samir (UAE) v Sheroz Kholmirzav (UZB); Lucas Porst (SWE) v Ellis Barboza (GBR); Mouhmad Amine Alharar (MAR) v Mohammed Mardi (UAE); Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) v Spyro Besiri (GRE); Aslamjan Ortikov (UZB) v Joshua Ridgwell (GBR)
Main card:
Carlos Prates (BRA) v Dmitry Valent (BLR); Bobirjon Tagiev (UZB) v Valentin Thibaut (FRA); Arthur Meyer (FRA) v Hicham Moujtahid (BEL); Ines Es Salehy (BEL) v Myriame Djedidi (FRA); Craig Coakley (IRE) v Deniz Demirkapu (TUR); Artem Avanesov (ARM) v Badreddine Attif (MAR); Abdulvosid Buranov (RUS) v Akram Hamidi (FRA)
Title card:
Intercontinental Lightweight: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) v Angel Marquez (ESP)
Intercontinental Middleweight: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) v Francesco Iadanza (ITA)
Asian Featherweight: Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) v Phillip Delarmino (PHI)
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Match info
Manchester United 4
(Pogba 5', 33', Rashford 45', Lukaku 72')
Bournemouth 1
(Ake 45 2')
Red card: Eric Bailly (Manchester United)
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
WHEN TO GO:
September to November or March to May; this is when visitors are most likely to see what they’ve come for.
WHERE TO STAY:
Meghauli Serai, A Taj Safari - Chitwan National Park resort (tajhotels.com) is a one-hour drive from Bharatpur Airport with stays costing from Dh1,396 per night, including taxes and breakfast. Return airport transfers cost from Dh661.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Etihad Airways regularly flies from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu from around Dh1,500 per person return, including taxes. Buddha Air (buddhaair.com) and Yeti Airlines (yetiairlines.com) fly from Kathmandu to Bharatpur several times a day from about Dh660 return and the flight takes just 20 minutes. Driving is possible but the roads are hilly which means it will take you five or six hours to travel 148 kilometres.
