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The Doha RFC ladies teams have been consistently developing their game as they close out the third leg of the Inter-Gulf Rugby Tournaments, marking an exciting year for women’s rugby with 13 teams regularly participating in the tournaments allowing this league to field three divisions for the first time. |
All around the gulf region, this has also translated to a steadily increasing high standard of women’s rugby that just keeps producing better and better games with every meet.
Doha’s first team Oryx had two stellar games within their pool and almost clinched the overall pool champions title before losing to a well drilled Dubai Cones team.
The Oryx showed some good handling skills and drove the ball up the pitch well. With some tight passes in the second and third games of the tournament and by managing good pressure, Doha Oryx emerged victorious over both Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Their control of the game and well-executed tackles kept the flow going while the pace on the pitch kept them in the lead.
The final match versus Cones was a great game with the ladies showing determination and quick thinking. There were notable tries from Lyvika Allen-Adekunle in every game, massive support from Irish Amy and newcomer Sasha Hudson displayed a depth of understanding that will surely make her a force on the wing in the tournaments to come.
However, some unforced errors and missed tackles hurt the end result and the team fell short of becoming overall tournament winners.
The Trojans set out to display their hardwork on the game basics. They came out and played an absolute stormer to open up their tournament. They looked great and in control of themselves and their game versus the Dubai Wasps.
The ladies continued to show good coordination between players and the improvement was on display all tournament long. A few wild passes and some dropped balls prevented some wins but the experience gained playing in these tournaments will continue to grow and develop these ladies as the season goes on.
“Doha is fortunate that interest is quite high and we are introducing new players to both squads this year but finding some consistency in our approach is proving elusive so the results for both teams aren’t where we would like to be at this point,” Duncan Fairley, the Trojans Coach, says. “But we are working towards consistent success in making full use of the space, drawing in defenders and getting our ball to the wing for the catch and run”.