Harlequins, London Wasps to play in Abu Dhabi
Harlequins and London Wasps decided to play their next fixture in Abu Dhabi on this Sunday. This decision has given rugby culture in West Asia a major uplift and thousands are expected to attend this Anglo-Welsh LV cup clash. Japan recently won the right
to act as a hosting party to the Rugby World Cup 2019 and the induction of rugby sevens as an official Olympic sport kicking off in 2016 has created a new home for Rugby in this part of the world.
2011 is being indicated as the daybreak of a new age for rugby in west Asia with the support of International Rugby Board. IRB is keen to spread out rugby’s escalation in all of Asia over the next decade. This move is approved keeping in mind to take LV
Cup clashes to a global level. It will be the first ever British domestic rugby event to be played abroad and it has received the full support from all the rugby lovers and importantly IRB. Everyone, from broadcasting to governing bodies have associated themselves
with this step and are walking together.
2003 World Cup winner Wasps board director, Lawrence Dallaglio has explained the conditions under which the match will be played. The clash will be under flood lights in a expressly built stadium on the fields of Emirates Palace, as a single time prospect.
IRB’s west Asia manager, Matt Oakley will be supervising how the steps are taken in United Arab Emirates, which is traditionally associated to Dubai Sevens tournament that is a fraction of World Sevens Series HSBC.
Oakley said, “It’s obviously significant that it’s been taken to the United Arab Emirates. There is an appetite there for professional rugby.” He added, “The key for me and the I.R.B. will be how the clubs in question work with the host union, the new United
Arab Emirates Rugby Association, to ensure there is some kind of legacy from this event that rugby in the U.A.E. and the U.A.E. Rugby Association benefits from this type of event coming to their country.”
UAE’s establishment and rugby association and federations in Qatar and Lebanon have been a fraction of this development program that has taken place in Abu Dhabi.
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