“Bahrain Red win the Rugby Tens tournament,” roared the energetic MC as an enthusiastic crowd, which had soaked in entertainment both on and off the pitch for nearly five hours at the Bahrain Rugby Football Club (BRFC), cheered and clapped for the winning team.
The Red team were one of two Bahrain teams – the other being ‘Black’ with the names dictated by the colour of their uniforms – in the one-off, five-team tournament organised by the BRFC yesterday, in partnership with the Saudi Arabian Rugby Federation (SARF).
Two teams from Saudi Arabia, representing Riyadh and Al Khobar, and a team representing the British Royal Navy frigate, the HMS Montrose, battled it out against each other through the course of the afternoon as the crowd grew increasingly festive and sang along to a live band belting out much-loved rock classics.
“We’re pleased to be out on the pitch again after the long lockdown,” BRFC chairman Mike Cunningham told the GDN after SARF CEO Amal Algrafi had presented the winner’s trophy to Red captain Lindsey Gibson.
“And we are very grateful to Amal and the teams from Riyadh and Al Khobar for coming over and making this tournament a great success.”
The teams played each other once as the shadows on the ground lengthened in the waning sun and the floodlights took over. Bahrain Red dominated proceedings throughout, winning their games comprehensively with Riyadh coming in second.
Under-18 player Jason Callon – whose father, Rod, also played for Bahrain – was declared the player of the tournament and as he walked up to Algrafi to accept his award, the cheers from his teammates soared over the sound of the music that had been playing non-stop. All the players from both Bahrain teams were drawn from the BRFC.
The band was now playing the Bob Dylan classic Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door as a stream of people, walking past a couple with a beautiful Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, stopped one-by-one to pet the dog which seemed to be enjoying all the attention it was getting.
“You’ve got to stop making people want to pet you,” the dog’s mom said smilingly, as another bunch of people stopped in their tracks to coo at the spaniel.