Bahrain 1st XV vs Abu Dhabi Saracens

Match ProgramFriday 2nd February

Kick off: 5pm

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A message from our Chairman

Dear members, sponsors, visitors and guests

It is a great pleasure to once again welcome you to Bahrain Rugby Football Club. Today we extend our traditional warm Bahrain RFC welcome to Abu Dhabi Saracens and the long-awaited return of 1st Team rugby.

Our last 2 fixtures resulted in frustrating away defeats against title rivals Jebel Ali Dragons and Abu Dhabi Harlequins. Today, at home, our 1st XV are determined to get back to winning ways and climb back up the table. Our opponents, Saracens, have just secured their first win in the West Asia Premiership this season and are looking to build on that. Both teams have much to play for, so we should expect a tough competitive encounter.

With Bahrain Golden Oldies rekindling their rivalry against Al Khobar in the curtain-raiser this afternoon and Round 1 of the Natwest 6 Nations taking place on Saturday and Sunday, today is the start of an exciting weekend of rugby at BRFC.

Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy the game.

Yalla Bahrain!

Mike Cunningham

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A message from our Director of Rugby

Welcome back to Bahrain RFC to what is the start of an exciting period for our young squad in their West Asia Premiership campaign. This is the start of a 4 game home run for us and one that will be absolutely crucial to our championship hopes come end of season.

We welcome Abu Dhabi Saracens to us this week - Sarries picked up their first win of the season last week at home against Eagles which is no easy feat and congratulations to them for that. We know its a difficult season for Sarries this year with off field difficulties - but under new leadership and good people at the helm its hopefully going to be a valuable transition period for them and we wish them all the best. We also thank them for making the trip to Bahrain for this fixture - its these home fixtures that keep us in the mix and us being the only team outside the UAE in the WAP its crucial that these teams travel to us to play these fixtures - so we are grateful for your efforts and commitment.

Its been a difficult 3 weeks for our squad - going into a crucial January we knew it was going to be tough playing the two top sides in their own back yard. Two frustrating games and two frustrating results but valuable learnings taken from each of them. Quins last week we went with players missing but we still dominated large parts of the game but just couldn’t get over that line - they showed why they are the champions and how clinical they can be by taking 3 of their only chances and in the end coming out victorious. We have dropped from 1st to 4th in 3 weeks but we are very much still in the race with 4 of our 5 remaining games being at home and 2 of those against Dragons and Exiles here at BRFC. We are also in the process of welcoming back some long term absentees to our squad in Adam Wallace, Ross Preedy and Greg Heath all returning to play in coming weeks. This is hugely exciting for us and a credit to our medical team who work tirelessly with our injured players.

We met as a squad last week and we are very much taking it one game at a time for the rest of the season placing no more significance on one game to the next - every game and every point is crucial now as we fight for a top 2 finish in the league to bring a home semi-final to Bahrain Rugby Club on Mar 23rd. The players are buoyant and excited and I know as always you will get behind your boys and drive them on.

Yours in Rugby,

Louie Tonkin

Louie Tonkin

Finally we have some home games at BRFC!

www.oakbh.com

Date of Birth - 23rd October 1988

Nickname - ‘Uce’, ‘chabuddy g’, ‘the brown cassanova’

Best Player played against - Julian Savea, TJ Ioane

Best Player played with - Matty Luamanu, Seti Tafua, Elliot Behan

Most Memorable Game - Wellington College v St Pat’s town final 2006. Help to bring the school into the new era of rugby and performing the haka in front of my school, family and friends.

Previous Clubs - Poneke (Wellington), Hurricanes U16 + U18, College Old Boys (Palmerston North), Power House (Melbourne), Melbourne Unicorns (Melbourne)

Player Profile

@himynameisdavis (instagram handle). Davis has been playing prop since he was five in Wellington, New Zealand and it’s been great for him to come out here and experience rugby with us in the Middle East. Davis made rugby teams and squads with the Hurricanes and the Manawatu Turbos along with senior sides in Palmerston North, Melbourne and most recently here in Bahrain.

Davis was a great addition to our squad in the 16-17 season but unfortunately tore his patella tendon in one of our first games of the season - however he’s back with a vengeance this season and has started 6 out of 7 fixtures and is returning to that impressive form we saw in that all impressive performance against Jebel Ali in September 2017.

Davis currently runs a digital marketing agency on the island (marketingbh.com/services) and enjoys a bit of DJing and karaoke in his spare time. He’s also extremely photogenic which is why he’s on the billboards around the club, so feel free to say hello!

Davis TuisProp

Date of Birth - 24th June 1993

Nickname - Baehan / The Bee Keeper

Best Player played against - Henry Slade (Exeter & England) Best Player played with - Ross Moriarty (Wales & Lions) or Dan Robson (London Wasps)

Most Memorable Game - Captaining our Hartpury U18s Sevens side as we beat Filton College at Twickenham to open up the HSBC World Series.

Previous Clubs - Hartpury College, Chinnor RFC, Banbury RFC

Player Profile

From an early age Elliot always had an aptness for physicality and competition, this led him to taking up Karate before ever stepping foot on a Rugby pitch. At the ages of 8 and 10 he took 1st place in the English national championship and thirsted for a new challenge as he began secondary school.

He started his Junior Rugby off at his local Oxfordshire side Banbury RFC where he first began to perfect his ‘face tackle’ technique which later led to team mates naming him the ‘Bee Keeper’ due to his swollen and bruised face after most fixtures. Not letting his diminishing beauty and facial structure dis hearten him, he persisted. With a quick move to Chinnor RFC in Thame he played U14 - Colts and was named as captain of his Oxfordshire County side from U16-18.

Having finished secondary school Elliot went to Hartpury College one of the most well-regarded Rugby institutions in the UK. As a versatile back-row he represented their U18 1st XV in an unbeaten season in which they were awarded Rugby World Magazine’s Team of the Year.

Having ruptured his Achilles tendon in pre-season 2016 he was forced out of action for 18 months. However, the resilient backrow is now back with a vengeance and strives to continue his fine form leading into the business end of the season having already been awarded the number 8 shirt within Sport 360’s, ‘Team of the Season so far’.

Number 8Elliot Behan

West Asia Premiership tableWEST ASIA PREMIERSHIPPLACE TEAM PLAYED WON DRAW LOST POINTS

FORPOINTS

AGAINST DIFF POINTS

1 ABU DHABI HARLEQUINS 8 6 1 1 299 129 +170 30

2 JEBEL ALI DRAGONS 7 6 0 1 239 114 +135 29

3 DUBAI EXILES 8 5 0 3 315 98 +217 28

4 BAHRAIN 7 4 1 2 188 117 +71 225 DUBAI HURRICANES 8 3 0 5 152 195 -43 15

6 DUBAI EAGLES 8 1 0 7 63 395 -332 5

7 ABU DHABI SARACENS 8 1 0 7 68 278 -208 4

NEXT FIXTURES - FEB 16TH @ 5PM - BAHRAIN VS DUBAI EXILES - FEB 23RD @ 5PM - BAHRAIN VS DUBAI HURRICANES

Next Fixtures

NEXT 1st XV FIXTURES:

> 16th February 5PM - Bahrain 1st XV Vs Dubai Exiles (HOME) > 23rd February 5PM Bahrain 1st XV Vs Dubai Hurricanes (HOME)

> 2nd March 6PM Bahrain 1st XV Vs Dubai Eagles (AWAY)

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> BAHRAIN> DUBAI > ABU DHABI > KUWAIT > QATAR> SINGAPORE

Bahrain 1st xv Squad 2017/2018

K. HANAHOE L. RADLEY

10/ 15 10/ 15 10/ 15 OUTSIDE HALF

O. LUKE I. PHILLIPS R. PREEDY

A. WALLACE

CENTRE + CAPTAIN

OUTSIDE BACK OUTSIDE BACK

G. BISHOP D. MORETE

D. EVANS

CENTRE

J. LEWIS C. COUPLAND G. HEATH T. TANTOH

OUTSIDE BACK OUTSIDE BACK OUTSIDE BACK OUTSIDE BACK

L. TONKIN

HEAD COACH

T. HANRATTY

TEAM MANAGER

A. BOWZAYLO

PHYSIO

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BAHRAIN 1ST XV SQUAD 2017-18

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CALLUMLYNN

Proudly supported by

Mascot Ball Boys

School: St Christopher’s Senior SchoolTeam: Under 9’sTime in Bahrain: I was born here!

Profile: Callum has always been a fantastic player with a great attitude to learning and developing his game as a young rugby player. He has grown from a quiet child into a leader of his team and helped us win some great tournaments during his time with us.

His words: I couldn’t wait to move from touch Rugby to contact this season, it’s a lot harder but much more exciting!

Nickname: SmurfAge: 10School: St Christopher’s Favourite Sport: RugbyFavourite Subject: PEFavourite Team: England RFC

Best Sporting Moment: The first try that I scored for BRFCMost Embarrassing sporting moment: Jumping the gun at the school swimming gala and falling straight in to the pool

WILLMURPHY MATTHEW

BARNES

Age: 11School: St Christopher’s Favourite Sport: Rugby, Football & Taekwondo Favourite Subject: PEFavourite Team: England RFC

Best Sporting Moment: Getting my junior Black Belt at Taekwondo Most Embarrassing sporting moment: Grabbing the ball and running really fast to score a try, but sadly.. in the wrong direction!

Thanks to our 2017/2018 Sponsors

www.oakbh.com

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