RUGBY – DEFENDING champions Bahrain hammered the Abu Dhabi Harlequins 53-0 in front of an ecstatic home crowd yesterday to maintain their unbeaten run in the 2023-24 West Asia Premiership.
The Bahrain Rugby Football Club (BRFC) stars, however, remain second in the seven-team table, with the four points for this win and a bonus point for scoring four ties raising their season’s tally to 30 points.
That makes six victories and a draw from seven matches.
They sit behind the Dubai Tigers, who have 33 points after defeating the Jebel Ali Dragons 40-28 in Dubai yesterday for their seventh consecutive victory this season.
“This was a great win for Bahrain with lots of exciting rugby and lots of inventive play from our side,” a delighted BRFC chairman Mike Cunningham told the GDN.
“We encountered some dogged defence from the Quins which prevented us from scoring a couple of tries. They were tough to attack against but we made the breaks; we made them commit and exposed the gaps in their defence.
“So we’re very, very happy as a group!”
The result was a foregone conclusion once the BRFC took a 26-0 lead at half-time with a packed main stand urging them on to score even more in the second half.
And, a minute after the break, forward Aled Morris obliged with a try to make it 31-0.
Twelve minutes later, a Rory Drummond try made it 36-0 and, in the 63rd minute, Matt Richards scored another try with the scoreboard now reading 41-0.
“Come on, Bahrain, score another one,” yelled a spectator as a cheer went up from the people around him.
This time, it was Lindsey Gibson who heeded the call with a try five minutes later to make it 46-0 and, in the 80th minute, Mason Porteous added another one before finishing things off with a pin-point kick that sailed between the uprights.
“We had some great individual performance by the guys, particularly by Rory Drummond, our man of the match,” Cunningham added.
“And we’re very happy with the way all the boys played, very happy with the result. It sets a marker down!
“We’re into the last half of the competition now and we’ve got two tough games coming up against the Tigers. And, of course, we’re looking forward to having a home semi-final and even a home final. So this big win helps us on the way.”
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