We would like to thank everyone who traveled to play this weekend in Doha, Qatar, and to Andre, Kit, Kat and Dave for their support and for sorting the trip out. It was a big job organizing flights and visas.

The game was great fun and even though we lost 27 – 19 after dominating the first half 19 – 3. We didnt concede the lead until just a few minutes remaining. Everyone played extremely well and a special mention to Man of the Match, Andrew on a great performance and and C**t of the match Dave Barnes aka Grandad for thinking we could have 7 guys on the bench but only able to sub 5, GENIUS!

Congratulations to Brett, Dan, Lari, Lui, Nick, Rob B and Jamal on getting their AAARFC Club Coin. Well deserved!

We have a game vs Muscat scheduled for Thursday evening at 7. Lets train hard this week, play hard and get a big win at home.

Traditionally the AAA Rugby Club have had the seniors help out with the juniors at the upcoming 2-day youth tournament. A logistical snag puts the men’s team at an away game in Kuwait on the Friday, however this is a one-day trip for the 1st XV so the men will be home Friday night. For those players who find it impossible to travel to Kuwait please let Andre know if you are available to assist. Then also for those returning from Kuwait the club would very much appreciate your assistance on Saturday during the second day of the youth tournament. The club understands that it is probably the last thing you want to do after a game and travel but the club needs you. Your help will be appreciated not only by the club but especially our young players, so again, please let Andre know if you are available to assist.

With one game each in pre-season tests the Dubai Wasps squared off against the Al Ain Abmblers on pitch one at the Al Ain Rugby Club this past Friday. Trevor Leota’s Dubai Wasps had won the last meeting between the two teams and rolled into Al Ain believing that they had what it takes to grab the first available points in the Gulf Conference. The Amblers knew they had a win in them if they could stick to the game plan and play hard for the full 80 mins. Pre-season had demonstrated that the Amblers had the skills needed to win but a 60 minute effort isn’t enough to seal the deal at this level of rugby. After kick-off it was apparent within only a few minutes of play that the teams were evenly matched and that it was going to take a lot of tough tackles, hard drives and heavy contact by both teams to gain the advantage. The contact was indeed punishing and a lot of players on both squads were slow to get up after the tackles, rucks and mauls. The Amblers drew first blood with some solid passing through the backs and a hard charge forward by Scott McReady to touch the ball down over the try line which was set up by a shoulder dislocating charge forward by Matt UK. The wasps however quickly answered with a try off of a handling error and followed almost immediately with a penalty kick to take the lead. The Amblers had been focusing in training on a very simple set of plays designed to draw in the opposition and setup the backs while at the same time slowing the play down so the forwards can reset after each breakdown. While the game plan appeared to be working as planned a pair of home team penalties deep in the defensive zone yielded two successful penalty kicks for the Wasps. The crowd sensed the game could be slipping away but the score was still close enough for the Amblers to make up for the penalties they had conceded. With 20 mins to go Quihen Marais scored a brilliant try with a succession of side-steps and straight-arms and the Amblers could feel that the momentum was now in their favor. Shortly after Quihen scored he made a try saving tackle that cost him a deep laceration to the face and he was forced to retire to the sideline. With only minutes remaining and the Amblers down by 4 points, former New England Patriot and 2001 SuperBowl ring owner Scott McReady answered with a brilliant run and try to take the score to 19 – 18 Amblers. A final strong defensive stand by the Ambler forwards preserved the lead and sealed the win and the first points awarded in the 2011/12 Gulf Conference series.

The AAARFC will play in their final friendly game of the pre-season tomorrow at the Al Ain Rugby Club. Kick off is 6PM. Please note the time has been moved forward 1 hour. Kick off is 6PM. Players are expected to arrive at the club by 5PM. All players should come ready to play as this is a friendly fixture we will likely have rolling subs so all players can get some playing time.

Dear Players and Supporters

We Hope all the players have recovered after the weekend game in Dubai. Even though we lost, well done to all the guys who came out and played, there is some positive to take from the loss and we’ll train hard this week and win big this weekend. Well done to Matt (US), Joe Hamm, Andrew, Juan, Ben and Jason who all played their first game for the Amblers firsts. Also congrats to Big Lari for being the Man of the Match and to our COM Semi, please don’t forget your boots again and hope no one else does either.

A very big thank you to our medics Eileen and Kat (Eileen I hope you’re okay after the bus trip back and hope we didn’t scare you away) and a big thank you to Dave aka Granddad (assistant coach) for all his support during the weekend.

Remember training tonight and Wednesday, come for 6:45 with all of your gear so we can “train” like we “play”.

The Next game is this weekend at home VS Toa, Al Ain Rugby Club kick-off at 5PM

In UAE sporting news, Al Ain Newspaper reported Monday that Al Noor Hospital, Al Ain is the exclusive healthcare sponsor for the AAARFC 2011/12 season. Click on the image to read the full article.