In their eye-catching smart new green and white team strip sponsored by Jeddah’s Fast Auto Technic and with a disciplined run-out onto the field, they looked every inch the champions that they are. The Camels had a hill to climb, however, as Lebanon, who are extremely determined to take the title, defeated Palestine a week ago in a convincing display of teamwork and physicality.

’Our defense was superb particularly man of the match Farid Abdul Wahab. If we tighten up our attack against Lebanon we will be difficult to beat,” said an upbeat head coach Kinkead of the performance.

The physically imposing Palestine team was no pushover. The Camels, however, proved more than a match for their opposition displaying tenacity and technique in the tackle.

During the opening of the game both sets of forward grittily tested each other in the set pieces and mauls but, led by man of the match Farid Abdulwahab, the team in white and green started to exert their dominance.

After a bruising first 10 minutes it was the Saudis that drew first blood as co-captain Rackan Al Moukhtar crashed over after bursting through two tackles. Zander Potgieter converted to give Saudis a 6-0 lead.

Some hard running swiftly followed from the Camels pack to allow co-captain Hasan Zakzouk to crash over from short range. As the half drew to a close there was still time for debutant Tommy Abdullah to pounce on a loose ball and kick through to ground the ball over the try line. With Potgieter again adding the extras the halftime score was 16-0.

The Palestinians dug in for the second half and the Saudi team laid siege to the Palestian line for the whole of the second half but a combination of poor handling and unlucky calls meant that the closest they came to scoring was Yousef Safadi’s effort being chalked off due to a forward pass.

However, it was left to that man again Abdulwahab to complete the scoring with a characteristically powerful run. His performance will have surely caught the eye of the scouts from the English professional clubs Warrington and Harlequins. More than a few of the other Saudi players will be looking to impress in the championship decider against Lebanon Saturday.