To say this day in 2011 was the first time Ishy Bilady had been played ahead of a rugby Test match would not be exactly accurate.
The region, at least, had been represented in international rugby since 1993, by the collective name of Arabian Gulf.
The custom was for that side to sing the nation anthem of the country in which they were playing that particular home fixture.
More often than not that was in the UAE, although Tests were played in Bahrain and Qatar, too.
The Gulf union was disbanded at the end of 2010 for a variety of reasons. It was, after all, an anomaly within rugby as a collective group of nations.
Splitting it from one union into single entities also helped add extra numbers to the list of places playing the game, which was seen as key to rugby’s bid for acceptance into the Olympic movement.
Although Test rugby was not entirely new to the players who lined up for the first UAE side for their first Asian Five Nations Test against Sri Lanka, there was a lot that was unfamiliar.
The representative side – whether it be the UAE now, or the Gulf as it was before – has always had a high annual turnover of players, reflecting the transitory nature of the region. So that first side did include many fresh to the international game.
The occasion, too, was scarcely recognisable for the amateur players who were on tour in Colombo.
Instead of the handful of friends and family they would usually play in front of in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, there were thousands packed in to the Ceylonese Rugby and Football Club.
The opposition included the son of the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
As per a global survey of the time, Sri Lankan rugby was inside the top 10 rugby nations for participation. Which explains the interest.
Even the weather was alien for the visiting players, who were more used to the flat tracks of the desert.
The match coincided with the start of the monsoon season on the island’s south-west coast. A deluge had made the pitch a quagmire, and most of the pitch markings were washed away.
Perhaps fittingly, given the wet conditions, the UAE’s first try-scorer was a Dubai Hurricanes prop called Dan Boatwright, whose name derives from the boat building industry.
The quantity surveyor, who still lives in Dubai and retains his association with the Hurricanes, was an unlikely history maker. As a member of the front-row union, tries rarely came in a flood for him.
“There'll be a few people I won't let forget,” Boatwright said of that try.
“Hopefully I'll be talking to the grandkids about it one day.”
Sri Lanka had held an 8-0 lead before Boatwright scored. When his Hurricanes clubmate Steve Smith later crossed, it meant UAE got their account up and running in international rugby with a 13-13 draw – although they had hoped for better.
“It was a proper rugby experience, I said to the boys they needed to take it all in as it will be a great experience to look back on – though maybe not the result,” Mike Cox-Hill, the UAE captain, said.
Scores
Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool
Arsenal 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Burnley 1-0 Brighton
Manchester United 4-1 Fulham
West Ham 3-2 Crystal Palace
Saturday fixtures:
Chelsea v Manchester City, 9.30pm (UAE)
Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur, 11.45pm (UAE)
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If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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LAST-16 EUROPA LEAGUE FIXTURES
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
