Rugby union in Bahrain is a minor but growing sport.
Governing body
The
Bahrain Rugby Football Union is the national governing body, under the
Arabian Gulf RFU. By the end of 2010, the AGRFU will be broken up, with new unions to be established in each member country, as announced in January 2009 by the IRB. The first national union to be formed from the AGRFU is expected to be that of the
UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...
.
History
Bahraini rugby is frequently played in high temperatures, and much of the time on sand.
Beach rugby and
rugby sevens
Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...
are also popular. Up until the mid-1980s, the only grass rugby pitch in the country was next to the airport, and games were could be interrupted by the comings and goings of the aircraft.
[Cotton, p16]
The sport was reintroduced by
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
ex-patriates working in the oil industry, and they continue to
dominate the game.
[Bath, p62][http://wesclark.com/rrr/islamic_rugby.html "Islam and Rugby" on the ''Rugby Readers review'' retrieved 2 July 2009] For example, the ARGFU website continues to be in English only. A problem is the drinking culture of rugby, which discourages Muslims from taking up the sport.
[
Bahrain also has a national sevens team.][ McLaren, Bill ''A Visit to Hong Kong'' in Starmer-Smith, Nigel & Robertson, Ian (eds) ''The Whitbread Rugby World '90'' (Lennard Books, 1989), p 70]
See also
* Rugby union in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf
References
* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 )
* Cotton, Fran (Ed.) (1984) ''The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records''. Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing.
External links
"Islam and Rugby" on the ''Rugby Readers review''
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