One of Abu Dhabi’s longest-running sports clubs, the Abu Dhabi Harlequins, is getting stuck into its pre-season training this month. The club is looking to recruit some new rough n’ tumble types to join the team and help bring them to victory this season, so we caught up with Club Captain Renier Els to hear more about the team.
Tell us a little about the background of the Harlequins Rugby Club.
We were formed in 1969 with just a few guys playing touch rugby on the beach under streetlights and hence were called the Bats (the Clubhouse used to be called the Belfry). Abu Dhabi was one of the founder members of the old Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union. In 2008 we linked up with London Harlequins and became the Abu Dhabi Harlequins.
So this season, we hear Michael Haddin (of Haddin’s Fitness) is going to be training you guys up – how’s that going?
Michael loves running up the stairs at Zayed Sports City Tennis complex! But he varies his sessions a lot between activities such as skipping and boxing, to running different distances with varying speeds. It’s all short, sharp, explosive work designed to prepare us for rugby.
It must be very challenging playing in the heat. What coping techniques does the team use?
It is particularly hard now due to the humidity, but it means then when the weather turns we’ll be in that much better shape. We make sure we’re fully hydrated at all times as that really affects performance –it can be dangerous if you’re dehydrated.
Where are most of your players from?
The senior sides are mostly expats from traditional rugby-playing nations but we do have a few locals and players from Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Hungary, Greece and Tunisia.
How big a sport is rugby in Abu Dhabi? Is it growing?
Abu Dhabi Harlequins has doubled its membership over the past three years so yes, I think it is growing exponentially. We now have over 700 members across the club which makes us the biggest rugby club in the Middle East and might even make us the biggest single club in Abu Dhabi.
Does the team get up to the same crazy hi-jinks as the rugby players in England are notorious for?
We respect the culture and values of the UAE and that is very important to us. Yes we like to have a good time but the sorts of things that might be ‘acceptable’ back home, we aren’t interested in here. Our main aim over the next few years is to integrate Emirati nationals into our teams and to do that we need to make sure that they find our social side acceptable.
Who are the team’s biggest rivals at the moment?
We hope that the new club, Abu Dhabi Saracens, will grow into our fiercest rivals, but at the moment the First Team has their eyes firmly set on last year’s Champions, the Dubai Hurricanes. The Ladies and Vets also have a history of losing to the Hurricanes so everyone is looking to them at the moment.
Can you tell us about the different teams within the club?
The senior section (pre-season is for seniors only, the juniors start in September) has five sides – a First Team and a Second Team who compete in the National and Gulf leagues, a social side who play against Navy ships and other friendlies, an over-35 Vets team who have regular competitions throughout the year and a ladies 7-a-side team which competes in the Gulf Ladies League.
What are the main goals for the Harlequins this season?
Each of the teams is good enough to win their league. Our aim now (and always will be at the start of the season), is to win every competition we’re entered into.
How can complete beginners get involved with the club?
Pre-season is perfect for complete beginners as it is a lot of fitness training and also introducing skills slowly as we go along. Pre-season training will be every Monday and Wednesday from 7pm until the season starts in late September – so anyone interested can come along any time.
For more information on Abu Dhabi Harlequins email clubcaptain@abudhabiquins.com or visit www.abudhabiquins.com For more information on Haddins email info@haddins.com or visit www.haddins.com.
