DUBAI, 2 December 2006 — In a display of disciplined rugby that had the enthusiastic crowd on its feet, the Saudi Scorpions sprang a surprise at the Dubai Sevens yesterday.

The Scorpions, the first all-Saudi rugby team, defeated the Saudi Select team of expatriate players 41-0 in the first game of a triplebill.

“We have just seen a piece of rugby history,” said Pierre Scottorn, former chairman of the Jeddah Rugby Club who watched the match. “This has changed the face of rugby in the Kingdom both for Saudi and expatriate players. That’s great for the game.”

The Scorpions showed the results of months of training and committed practice in the sharpness of their moves, superior speed and committed tackling. The Saudi Select team rarely crossed the Scorpions 20-meter line, held back by good anticipatory play and strong defense.

Reaching the score-line, made up of seven tries and three conversions, was not without incident.

In the second half rucks and mauls became very hard fought affairs indeed as the Scorpions consistently tackled with determination and steadily racked up the points against the Saudi Select. Ahmad El Maghraby came off halfway through the second half with a shoulder injury, depriving the team for the rest of the tournament of one of its swiftest players.

Drawn against Abu Dhabi 1 in the second game, the Scorpions were quick off the mark with a converted try in the first 2 minutes.

Having caught Abu Dhabi on the hind foot, the Scorpions pressed their advantage and ran in two more trys and one conversion before halftime.

The second half started with another converted touchdown in the first minute. The prospect of a serious defeat however stung Abu Dhabi into action and in a show of blistering pace along the wing from Abu Dhabi which ended in a converted try, followed in short order by an opportunist second try capitalizing on a fumbled catch on the Scorpion’s line.

The Scorpions defense hung in some disarray enough to trouble Abu Dhabi only slightly who, heartened by the seeming collapse of the Saudi team pushed home a third converted try.

That however was the end of the scoring as the Scorpions rallied and shut down several attacks that, if successful would have given Abu Dhabi victory. The final whistle blew with the score at 26 points to 21 points for the Saudi Scorpions.

The final game, against many times winners of the GCC team cup and favorites again this year, was as hard as the Scorpions expected.

Four tries in the first half and three in the second — with three conversions in total brought the score to 41 nil, the same score that the Scorpions had started the day with over Saudi Select.

The match was hard — a vigorously contended first round match for Dubai who were expected to win.

Obviously disappointed, Mohammed Zahid said that they had played their best and felt exhilarated that they had run out with very serious opponents.

The Scorpions have not finished yet; as second in their group they automatically qualify to take on the other runners up in the GCC group and anticipate to making their mark there.