By Sports Reporter/Doha
With the Asia Rugby Western Clubs Champions League being announced, Doha Rugby Football Club (DRFC) will be hosting AD Saracens and a team from Kazakhstan in Doha to play the first two rounds at the beginning of September.
DRFC, the Gulf Top 6 winner, will then travel to Dubai to play Kandy to start the new season with some tremendous games.
With the backing of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), DRFC has seen tremendous growth participating in cross-border and overseas tournaments, and working toward the development of the sport in Qatar.
“The 1st XV, standard bearers for Doha RFC, will again be coached by Aaron Palmer and he of course will have his own very specific objectives, and that is key – he is the driver for rugby at the club,” Doha RFC chairman Luke Godley said.
“I and other members of the committee are here to ensure Aaron has the resources he needs to achieve success, whilst making sure that he is stretched in his achievement of this success. I don’t think we enter any tournament with the attitude of just taking part, so whether it is the new Asia Rugby West Clubs Champions League, the Asia Rugby West League, Gulf Premiership, Gulf Top 9 or Dubai 7s we aim to finish as winners – or at least achieve the high standards we set.”
Talking about the team’s preparations, Palmer said: “The squad has only been training for a few weeks now and the intensity will start to increase as we head into our first game on September 11. S&C coach Jamie Clarke has been putting the boys through a number of grueling regimes to increase their fitness leading into the West Asian Club Champions tournament. We are still awaiting the return of some squad members from summer vacation but would welcome two new recruits of notice, Caine Elisara and Brook Tremayne, both from New Zealand, who will add some considerable depth and experience to the team this season. With less than a month of pre-season training to go we will be looking to fine tune both our on field conditioning plus our tactics and skills work in the sapping evening heat. We also welcome any new players to town to get down and join us.”
For the record, Doha 2s will be playing in the Qatar Rugby Federation tournament alongside the Doha Vets, Al Khor, Qatar French, CNAQ and Messaieed Lions.
“This tournament speaks volumes for rugby development in Qatar. Alongside the Qatar Youth league, great rugby is being developed in Qatar,” Godley said. “We will also look to continue fully supporting the Minis & Youth programme and ensure that all 650 kids who play rugby at DRFC continue to take forward steps in their individual and team development. It looks as though we will be expanding the battle of the clubs concept, whilst continuing to support traditional Gulf tournaments. We will also ensure that coaching for the kids is continually enhanced with courses both externally and internally (utilising 1st team playing personnel).”
Ladies team now have 30-plus girls training twice a week, using teams like The Hurricanes as a blueprint to develop themselves so they can become even more competitive in both 7s and 15s.
Doha RFC Senior Men, Ladies and Vets have 70-plus players at training, although quite a few players will not be back in country until the end of the month.
