RUGBY – BAHRAIN’S First XV rugby team finished as silver-medallists yesterday in the Gulf Men’s League at the Dubai Sevens 2025, held over the weekend at The Sevens Stadium in the UAE.
The kingdom’s representatives emerged as runners-up following a narrow 21-24 defeat against the Dubai Hurricanes in the Cup final.
The Bahrainis had earlier reached the title-decider after winning four of their five games in Pool A of the preliminary round. They opened with a 19-12 victory over the Hurricanes, but then lost 12-28 to the Dubai Sharks. They bounced back with a 29-0 rout of the Dubai Exiles First XV, and then beat the Abu Dhabi Harlequins 29-14. They then wrapped up that stage with a resounding 38-12 win against the Pegler Dragons First XV before their re-match with the Hurricanes in the Cup final.
Bahrain’s First XV featured Jack Hocking, Charlie Farmer, Deina Morete, Sesona Macala, Romeo Eksteen, Kenta Kutsuna, James Newey, Greg Heath, Joel Kidgell, Josh Petro, Gregor Smith, and Cormac Fox, with their coach and management tandem of Adam Wallace and Ross Preedy.
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Super Twos Second XV made it to the Bowl semi-finals of the Gulf Men’s Social competition, but lost 17-38 to the O Beach Dragons Threes.
They began their campaign in Pool B of the preliminaries with a 10-19 setback against M&C Saatchi Dragons Twos, and then lost 0-26 to The Club Abu Dhabi. They roared back with a 27-7 win over the Khobar Eagles and then outplayed the MRFC Men’s 24-5 in the Bowl quarter-finals.
Bahrain’s Super Twos Second XV featured Mackenzie Oliver, Deon Puren, Nick Young, David Ofori-Manteaq, Andries de Kock, Awethu Lushozi, Tian Jacobs, Rhys Fitzgerald, Stewie Heunis, Will Trodd, A’jani Stokes, and Justin Wang, with their coach and management duo of Alastair Crombie and Jack Parry.
Bahrain’s Golden Oldies were also in action at the Dubai Sevens. They made it to the Plate semi-finals of the Gulf Vets competition, but lost 5-14 to the Al Ain Amblers.
In Pool D of the opening stage, the kingdom’s Golden Oldies lost 5-15 to Khobar RFC. They then suffered another setback to the DRFC Dogs 12-21, before losing to the INQ Dragons Vets 7-24. They then claimed their sole victory with a 22-0 rout of the Riyadh Scorpions before heading to the Plate semis.
Bahrain’s Golden Oldies roster was composed of Ally Cruickshank, Brandon Borgeois, Brandon McGee, Mark Swinton, Roshan Frederick, Graham Hardyman, Niall Higgins, Peter Kengere, Stevie Leask, Jaun Coetsee, Kevin Harris, Diego Hernandez, Ross Kirk, Michiel Borst, and Richard Brown. Their coach and management were Dan Vanegas and Adam Guzy.
Elsewhere at this year’s Dubai Sevens, the Bahrain Colts were crowned Bowl champions in the Gulf Under-19 Boys’ tournament.
They secured the Bowl title after defeating their counterparts from the Dubai Sharks 26-5 in their final.
Earlier, in the opening phase, the Colts were handed a 10-38 loss to BASK, and then bowed by Dess College B 0-54. They suffered another setback at 14-35 to the Jumeirah English Speaking School U19 Boys White team, before beating the WSO Falcons 26-12, setting the stage for their win in the Bowl final.
Bahrain’s Colts squad featured Dan Allen, Harrison Sampson, Mo Nafie, Nicholas Shankar, Harry Checketts, Aden Enslin, Ben Marks, Cooper Comrie, Dylan Vermeulen, Oscar Allen, Luan Steyn, Thibaut Pourcel, and liam Convey. Their coach and management tandem were Lee Stones and Allen.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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