RUGBY – Defending champions Bahrain claimed their first win of the 2026-27 Men’s West Asia Premiership last night.
The kingdom’s First XV romped to a resounding 36-9 result against the Dubai Dragons First XV at Jebel Ali Sports Complex in the UAE.
Two tries apiece from Josh Petro and Gregor Smith and one other from AJ Kearns, to go along with the kicking accuracy of Cormac Fox, lifted the kingdom’s squad to their impressive away victory.
They did well to bounce back from their opening fixture of this campaign last weekend, when they narrowly went down to the Dubai Tuskers First XV at home.
The Bahrainis conceded two penalty kicks in the first seven minutes yesterday to fall behind 0-6, but roared back from there.
Petro put the visitors on the board with a 12th-minute try in the left corner. He then spotted a gap in the Dragons defence and sprinted through to score his second try of the evening on the half-hour mark.
Fox added the two bonus points to help Bahrain surge to a 12-9 lead, which they took with them into the interval.
The kingdom’s squad then got their third try from AJ Kearns on a two-on-one with teammate Jack Hocking to start the second half.
Fox was on target once again as Bahrain extended their advantage to 19-9.
The inspirational skipper then fired in a penalty kick in the 69th minute to make it 22-9 before Smith added his first try four minutes later, with Fox delivering yet another conversion for a commanding 29-9 cushion.
Smith completed his brace in the 77th minute and Fox applied the nail in the coffin with the ensuing kick to seal their rout.
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Second XV were also triumphant yesterday against their Dubai Dragons counterparts, winning their UAE Division One clash 47-10 at the same venue in the Emirates.
The Second XV claimed their maiden win of their season after also opening with a loss to the Dubai Tuskers Second XV.
Action in both the Men’s West Asia Premiership and UAE Division One continue until the completion of their respective preliminary rounds in April of next year, after which the kingdom’s squads will be hoping to have booked their places in their semi-finals, scheduled for April 23 and 24. The finals are slated for May 1.
Bahrain’s First XV were crowned champions of the 2025-26 Men’s West Asia Premiership after the previous season was cut short due to the unfortunate events in the region.
They were headed into the semi-finals as number one seeds at that stage, having won all 12 of their games in the preliminaries.
They thus secured the crown with an undefeated campaign, regaining the title they last won in 2022-23.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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