The UAE played out their one and only International fixture of the season last night under the bright lights of Rugby Park, Sports City which is home of the Dubai Eagles rugby club, beating a spirited Gibraltar 28-10.

They played a decent touring Gibraltar side who have for the past week played various warm up fixtures around the city against the likes of local teams such as Exiles, Eagles and a UAE Barbarians side made up of Premiership players looking to make their way into the national squad next season.

Former dual code international Apollo Perelini and Head Coach of the UAE International side seemed pretty pleased with the performance saying;

“We weren’t bad at all, I thought our boys controlled it ok, but just lacked game time together to really put in a full assault at times.”

Video Credits: Marc Why

The UAE squad have not played any rugby together at all this season. It seems a tad bittersweet for the UAE International squad, as they no doubt have the most talented group of individuals that we’ve seen in a few years here in the Emirates, but next seasons future is uncertain as they have withdrawn from the Asia Rugby Championship this summer – in a move which casts doubt on the very future of the international side.

Lets hope that after last nights strong performance by the UAE, we will be seeing such talent showcased on the fields next season and more home internationals being organised by the Federation.