With only 15 days left before the revival of the 2022/23 West Asia Premiership rugby (after a two year hiatus due to Covid-19), it’s been revealed that the Dubai Hurricanes have withdrawn from Premiership rugby.

The West Asia Premiership is seen as the top flight rugby within the Gulf Region. It was back in 2016/17 season, that we last saw a full house of rugby clubs represented within the league. Doha and Bahrain, were the other non UAE teams within the once popular league making up of a total of 7 teams.

Now, after featuring in the league since its creation, the Canes will play their rugby in Division 1 and 2 this season, due to a lack of player numbers.

The club will hopefully have a recruitment drive before the Christmas break and may feature in the league again at a later date (friendlies fixtures only).

Does Premiership Rugby Still Excite Fans?

The news comes at a time when a lot of people are questioning how sustainable Premiership rugby is in the Gulf Region.

Many players and rugby fans alike see Division 1 as the one to watch, fielding 10 different clubs within the league, making it a much more exciting and competitive set of fixtures throughout the season.

Now with only 5 teams and a pretty predictable outcome, the top flight league will struggle to bring the crowds as it once used to.