The reigning MENA U16 rugby league champions are off to Lebanon this week to defend their title. The polyglot team team, which is one third Saudi, consists of pupils from Jeddah Prep and Grammar School, British International School in Jeddah and the American School in Jeddah, will face a determined challenge from their opponents. Last year the Saudi Schools Select team made history by gaining their first international victory, shocking the hosts, a strong Lebanon Junior Cedars side, in the inaugural MENA U16 Championship. The Saudi youngsters performed outstandingly to set a benchmark that will be difficult for this year's side to top.
Co-captains Hasan Zazouk and Rackan Al Moukhtar, pictured above with the MENA U16 Championship trophy, both return from last year's championship team and are aware of the challenge in front of them. “We know we shocked a lot of people last year and this year the other teams will be out for revenge,” says Zazouk, but Al Moukhtar isn't intimidated: “Our game is built on hard running and strong tackling and this year we will be even tougher to beat.”
The Saudi squad has drawn heavily from the undefeated British International School Jeddah team that won the local schools competition, conceding only one try whilst posting a massive 120 points in three games. With the addition of quality strike players from the other schools the squad has come together under the supervision of coaches David Kinkead, Wayne Stewart and Chris Stander and in their final warm-up game against fellow pupils supported by team coaches, the Camels looked sharp, running in seven tries to four during the match. The only negative outcome was an injury to Saeed Saeed, preventing the Dar Al Fikr pupil from travelling. He would have been the first player from the Saudi government school system to be selected.
Head coach Kinkead is confident ahead of the MENA Championship. “The squad has gelled nicely and it's great to see the hard work on the training pitch start to come out on the playing field. The side has a number of quality players hoping to catch the eye of the scouts at the tournament and the boys are particularly excited by the opportunity to showcase the talent available in the kingdom.”
The visitors, then, are determined to achieve two objectives, not give up that trophy without a fight and that there is real quality rugby league being played in Saudi Arabia. They will commence their defence against a Palestinian Rugby League U16 side that was surprisingly well beaten by an impressive Lebanese outfit on 20 March. Palestinian coach Ahmad El Masri, fresh from his return from the RLEF coaching course in London, will need to revive his charges’ flagging spirits ahead of the match on 31 March. Saudi Schools Select close the competition with their much anticipated match against the Junior Cedars on 2 April.
Roger Harrison of the Arab News contributed to the story.