Camels dominated the Qatar Rugby 7s for the second straight edition, winning the finale of the seven-team tournament against Doha at the Aspire Warm-up Track on Friday evening.
The two teams had played the final in the last edition earlier this year too (Camels won 38-12). However, on Friday, Doha managed to put up some resistance stemming the flow of tries, eventually losing 5-22.
Former Fijian international Orisi Sareki got going for the Camels scoring two tries and a conversion, before Doha captain Elliot Johnston pulled off a try at the stroke of half time (12-5).
Doha’s momentum going into the second half hit a roadblock, not being able to go past the Camel back line, despite numerous efforts by Luke Masiwera.
Tope Tansake, who was eventually adjudged MVP of the match, added another try for the Camels before teammate Badar made it 22-5 for the eventual winners.
“We had been preparing for the game for an entire week and we managed to come to the final, we are glad and happy about that. We won the Cup. That’s what we had been training for,” Camels captain Iliesa Rakabu said after the win.
“Doha is a good team. It was a tougher game (than the others). Also, we had to prepare for the Dubai 7s and this game has helped us to find our weaknesses,” the Fijian added.
Johnston took positives for his team despite the loss. Doha only lost to one team in the entire tournament — the unbeaten Camels.
“They have a lot more experience than us. Some of them have played international tournaments, while some of our boys are pretty fresh in the 7s, have only been playing a couple of years,” Johnston told Gulf Times.
“They are essentially full time professionals, while we have a job as well. They get to do this year-round, while we do it only during the season. However, we were closer to them than the last time, but having said that we still have a way to go.
“We are obviously the top two teams in the league, and we have shown that by being in the finals, and it was a close game, or at least closer than any other game they have had in the competition.
“And following this, we are going to the Dubai 7s next week, we won’t be playing anyone as strong as them. So this game does give us a lot of confidence moving forward; to be able to play other Gulf teams as well.”
Earlier in the evening, Camels made their way to the Final, by beating Stallions 41-5, while Doha downed Lions 38-7. The two semi-finalists then played the Plate Final, where Lions beat Stallions 41-0.
Blue Phoenix and Pirates, who finished fifth and sixth in the league respectively, played the Bowls Final, where the former won 38-0.
SEMIFINALS AND FINALS RESULTS
SF 1: Camels 41 Stallions 5
SF 2: Doha 38 Lions 7
Bowls Final (5th vs 6th place): Blue Phoenix 38 Pirates 0
Plate Final: Lions 41 Stallions 0
Cup Final: Camels 22 Doha 5
Exhibition (Development Ladies): Felines 4 Tigers 3
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