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.
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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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
match info
Maratha Arabians 138-2
C Lynn 91*, A Lyth 20, B Laughlin 1-15
Team Abu Dhabi 114-3
L Wright 40*, L Malinga 0-13, M McClenaghan 1-17
Maratha Arabians won by 24 runs
Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk
“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”
“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”
“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”
“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
