Full of Eastern promise

Author: 
ROGER HARRISON | ARAB NEWS
Publication Date: 
Sat, 2010-03-13 21:31

Open to players aged from 11 through to 18, many of the large crowd had come to see the under 12 players as the future of rugby lies with them and could be the source of players for the 2016 Olympics.
Jeddah Prep and Grammar School’s (JPGS) Under 14’s record as the unbeaten team in the division was upset came to a sudden end with a decisive 16-4 win to the British International School of Jeddah (BISJ).
The emergence of a new talent in JPGS’s Tarique Al Darubi (younger brother of high-scoring Ahmed from the Saudi Select team, the Camels) in the JPGS under 12’s scoring tries for the sheer fun of it caught the eye of many.
“Some tries were literally what you would see from Greg Inglis,” said Chris Ratcliffe JPGS coach. “His right hand fend-off is simply awesome and with his speed and balance, he has a great future in the game.” Inglis, a formidable Australian rugby league player, is 2009 winner of the coveted Golden Boot award as the world’s greatest Rugby League player.
The larger and slightly older members of BISJ A’s started favourites but the speed and determination of AISJ A’s and JPGS A’s evened out the matches as the younger players were determined to impress and attempt to secure a place in the under 14’s nine-a-side squad that will soon visit Beirut.
Although young and still developing, there was nothing at all lacking in the quality of focus and disciplined aggression among any of the day’s players, a testament to both their coaches and the structure of the game. The total absence of injury amidst some fierce play gave the lie to rugby as a dangerous sport.
“Played correctly and with good intent, coaching and refereeing it is exhilarating and remarkably safe,” commented Head of Rugby Shaun Nicholls. “Such is the recent rapid raising of the profile of rugby here that it has attracted Audi as our main sponsor and Pepsico, who provide the all necessary rehydration. With this development, I think it is the coming game in the Kingdom.”
In the Under 12’s section it was JPGS 'A' who dominated throughout. Coaches David Martin and Chris Stander played to the strengths of the team and their speed got them home.
JPGS A’s topped the winners list with AISJ A’s snatching second place, JPGS B’s in third and AISJ B’s fourth. BISJ’s two teams unusually followed up the rear of the list.
BISJ A’s and JPGS were expected to dominate the under 14’s division but AISJ coaches Shaun Nichols and Jacques Killian have worked wonders in the last few months to improve the players attitude to playing the game. A number of new boys are also playing and the results showed.
Playing 11-a-side with three-man scrums the standard has risen yet again to show how much work is going on in all three schools.
After all the hard work throughout the day, it came down to a battle between the two Saudi Select Coaches teams, Dave Kinkead assisted by Youssef Alfadl at BISJ and Chris Ratcliffe and Wayne Stewart at JPGS. The game was played at a tremendous pace and the defence was at times brutal but at the whistle it was BISJ A’s who took their chances to win 16-4 and send JPGS to their first defeat at this age division.

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