By Peter Townson/Staff Reporter
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Members of the Qatar national rugby team with coaching staff and officials |
The match served as a warm-up ahead of next week’s competitive fixtures in the division four of the Asian 5 Nations championship, which will see Qatar take on Jordan, followed by either Lebanon or Uzbekistan.
Although far from a glittering performance, the team showed glimpses of brilliance and benefited from the experience of facing opponents who were strong and committed throughout.
A scrappy affair at times, tries from Adam Beadon, Tom Featherstone, Lillian Cance and a double from captain Liam Frost, one of which was converted by Paul Beard, saw the Qatar team post 27 points.
Although the Lions team managed to score a try of their own, the score was a reflection of the superior pace and skill in the Qatar back line.
Frost put in a sterling performance at inside centre, and if the team is to enjoy success next week they will need to use his experience and ability at the heart of the back line to bring in less experienced players and provide a spark to their attacking moves – which he certainly managed last night.
Head coach Aaron Palmer spoke to Gulf Times following the match, expressing his optimism about the upcoming fixtures.
“We won the game five tries to one so we were happy about that,” he said, adding that there are a number of areas of improvement the coaches had identified for the development of the team.
“The match was vital for the preparation leading into our tournament next week as none of these guys had played together as a team before,” he said.
He added: “They have now set their benchmark and now we know we need to be better than this at the next training sessions and of course at the next match.”
“Our positives were that we got to play as a team, players got to know their teammates better and got to run the moves,” he said, adding, “negatively, our think our lineout didn’t function so well and our fitness may have been found out at times.”
“These things can be fixed and will be fixed,” he noted.
“I thought the Sri Lankans put up some good opposition and made it a very competitive game.
“However, for a trial game I also think the referee was over-pedantic on the whistle and led to a very stop-start match,” he stated.
The coaching team have selected a 24-man squad, which includes four Qataris: Mubarak al-Malik, Abdulkareem al-Muhannadi, Abdulaziz al-Dosari and Adnan Ali.
Among the other players selected, a number have lived here in Qatar for all or almost all of their lives.
“I thought the Qatari boys were outstanding – Abdulaziz was very effective at hooker in the middle of everything and is very industrious,” he said, adding, “our three wingers Mubarak, Adnan, and Abdulkareem have so much raw pace and talent that no one will catch them if they are given some room to move, and they showed that.”
“I think they will surprise many at the tournament in Dubai,” he added.
Raw pace is not an overstatement, as when the wingers had the opportunity to stretch their legs they certainly showed that other teams will struggle to keep up.
The question is whether Qatar can gel enough as a unit to successfully deliver the ball to their wingers with space and time to attack, and whether they can rely on dominance at the set piece to launch effective attacking moves.
Last night’s performance may not have answered these concerns conclusively, but it was certainly a step in the right direction for this recently formed team, who will go into their fixture against Jordan buoyed by a victory in their first-ever match.