There is a lot at stake for Qatar at the upcoming tri-nation Asia Rugby Championship Division III, which is scheduled for April 16, 19 and 22. For starters, a win against the visiting Iran and Lebanon teams here will serve a huge boost for the newly-formed Qatar Rugby Federation (QRF) and its efforts to increase the profile of the sport in the country.
And then there is also the case of the five Qatari nationals who are part of the team — Mubarak al-Malik, Rakan Mutawaa, Talal Mujalli, Abdulaziz al-Dosari and Abdul Karem al-Muhannadi.
Qatar national 15s team captain Tom Featherstone, talking at a news conference at Doha’s Copthorne Hotel yesterday, said, “All the players know, especially for the five guys who are Qatari nationals, this is the biggest opportunity for them so far, playing for their country. Rest of the team, most of us have spent a lot of time here. Qatar’s like a second home to us. We have actually been longer here than our home country. This is home now. The importance for winning is right up there. If we can come away with two wins, it will be great for the sport in Qatar.”
The Asian Rugby Championship replaces the Asian 5 Nations (A5N) tournament, and Division III, divided into five geographical zones, provides opportunities for countries in those areas to get some international experience. However, promotion to the much tougher Division II and I is not on the table at the moment.
Qatar will host Lebanon and Iran for bragging rights in the Division III West Central zone.
Talking about the other two teams, Featherstone, who has eight caps in the 15s international competition and six in international sevens, said, “Both are very good teams; Iran are very big and physical team, while Lebanon, I think will be very quick. Eighty minutes out there, anything can happen. We are just going to take one game at a time.”
QRF’s senior rugby co-ordinator Samuel Rico added, “Both teams have won championships. Those two teams also have expats playing with them. Lebanon have players from Australia and Canada while there are Iranian players that live abroad.”
Featherstone said that Qatar’s strength lies in the “experienced forward pack”. “Our backs are wide as well. We have got depth of experience there as well. Jonathan Davies out in centre, Mubarak and Rakan out in the wings, and as you have seen in the sevens league, they are lightning fast.”
The inaugural edition of Qatar Rugby Sevens has created quite a buzz around the sport in the country. As many as five clubs, who participated in the tournament, which concluded recently with a win for Camels 1, have been represented in the 15s national team.
Crossing over from sevens to 15s and vice versa, as Featherstone pointed out, is not exactly easy.
“It can be quite difficult, sevens and 15s are very different. In terms of sheer numbers, the size of the field doesn’t change but the number of players changes. That means, in sevens you have to be fast, fit and very mobile, while 15s a very physical game but you have extra support and different kinds of players. But it’s largely experience and fitness that allows me and some of the other players to dabble in both forms of the game,” Featherstone said.
However, the Doha RFC player did add that the sevens competition has been instrumental in ensuring that there is wide pool of players to choose from for the 15s team.
“It’s great, I am really happy with the new clubs coming in, thanks to the sevens tournament. I think it is very good for Qatar rugby. More and more people coming down to try out the sport, that’s encouraging. It means different experience, different ideas and a wide pool to choose from. It’s great that now we have choice to pick up players from all different backgrounds and all different styles of play,” he said.
QRF general secretary Ali al-Malki said, “We are delighted at the opportunity of hosting the tournament with Asia Rugby. This tournament will be the biggest challenge for the Federation to date. I call on the entire sports community to join us and show the world that we are capable of hosting and presenting world class events.”
Al-Malki praised the sponsors and the Copthorne Hotel, who will be hosting the teams. He said, “The QRF wishes to thank its partners the QOC, the Aspire Foundation Zone and IEC for their ongoing support. I wish to also acknowledge Copthorne Hotel general manager Mr. Kabalan Frangieh who has been a willing partner in the development of rugby, playing host to the Lebanese and Iranian national rugby teams and holding all events for the Asia Championship.”
 Frangieh added, “We are very happy that QRF chose the Copthorne Hotel as their partner. The QRF is working hard to develop rugby in Qatar and we are excited to be part of that visionary process. The Copthorne Hotel is a strong supporter of community sports and we will do our best to deliver the best service which can only reflect on Qatar as a whole.”
The tri-nations matches will be played at the Aspire warm up and purpose built rugby track, with Qatar and Iran playing the opener on Friday, followed by Iran and Lebanon on April 19, and Qatar and Lebanon facing off on April 22.
Qatar made an impact on its debut at the A5N in 2011 Division IV beating Lebanon and Jordan for the championship in Dubai. In the 2013 A5N held in Kuala Lumpur, Qatar crushed China 76 – Nil and overcame a strong Guam 13 -7 to win the finals.
In 2014, the tournament was held in Qatar at the Al Arabi Stadium, where Qatar beat Thailand and Iran to advance to the finals which they lost to Malaysia.