(Source: Gulf News)

Continuing their commitment to rugby, both on a domestic and international level, Emirates Airline has recently announced their sponsorship of a new 15-a-side tournament – the Emirates Four Nations Cup.

The weeklong event will take place from December 9 to 16 at the Sevens, immediately after highly popular Dubai Rugby 7′s tournament.

This initiative, developed by UAE Rugby and supported by the Hong Kong RFC, ARFU and the IRB, will provide an extra layer of activity identified by the IRB as being critical to the development of nations who wish to improve their international rugby standing.

As the first cross border and cross continent tournament of its kind, the Emirates Four Nations Cup will allow four ambitious National XV’s teams to play more international games providing greater preparation for their respective Regional Tournaments and IRB competitions.

The four teams competing in 2011′s inaugural Emirates Four Nations Cup are: Kenya (Confederation of African Rugby), Brazil (Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby), Hong Kong (Asian Rugby Football Union) and host nation, UAE (Asian Rugby Football Union).

Click here to read more.

One of the reasons I’m looking forward to come next week, is flying to Dubai.

Maybe I should clarify that… flying to Dubai on the biggest passenger aircraft in the world: the Airbus A380.

I just read in Die Burger that German carrier Lufthansa had their A380 fly over Cape Town as part of a naming ceremony.

Cape Town is not able to host an aircraft the size of the A380, hence the fly-over and my family and I having to fly a smaller airplane on the Dubai-Cape Town leg of our trip home.

Die Burger reports that the A380 is:

* a double-decker aircraft

* has four engines

* seats up to 525 people in three classes

* is 3m longer than the Boeing 747-400

* it’s wingspan is 15m longer than that of the Boeing 747-400

The countdown to my family’s two-yearly trip home for Hong Kong’s summer holidays has officially begun.

Excuse me making a big deal of it, but when one has been away from home for a decade, seeing family and friends only once every two years… you will understand why we are all looking forward to the trip.

In a month’s time my family and I will board the biggest airplane on the world, Emirates’ A380 en-route to Dubai (via Bangkok).

Two years ago I bought a Lonely Planet guide for the United Arab Emirates that has been gathering dust in my rented storage locker. Thankfully I can finally retrieve it because we will be staying over in Dubai for 4 days.

The kids are still busy writing their final examinations and when that is all done and dusted, the serious planning around what we want to see and what road-trips we will be doing back home, will begin.

I’m going to share some of the information we gather about tourist attractions in South Africa right here on Howzit-HongKong.com

If internet service has improved back home (it was pretty useless and moerse expensive last time around), I also plan to keep you abreast of what we are doing and seeing on our trip around South Africa.

Stay tuned…

African sunrise. A stunning sunrise on approach to OR Tambo Airport in Joburg (Pic: Mike Jansen, 2009)

Japan coach John Kirwan joined former Scotland boss Frank Hadden in leading clinics for 50 schoolchildren on Thursday morning as the HSBC ARFU Rugby Coaching Tour continued its four-day series of activities in Dubai.

Kirwan has enjoyed the highs of rugby, finishing as the joint-top try scorer as New Zealand won the first Rugby World Cup in 1987 and coaching Japan at France 2007.

However, the former winger showed his enthusiasm for spreading the game at the grassroots level when he and Hadden gave youngsters from Al Shafie Primary School and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Secondary School a taste of world-class coaching at Al Safa Sports Hall, a day before his Japan side took on the UAE in their televised HSBC Asian 5 Nations clash.

“It’s very hot here at this time of year, so we’ve coached the kids indoors and this version of the game seems very popular. They responded well to the drills we developed for them and seem to have a genuine appetite for the game,” said Kirwan, who in March launched this year’s HSBC ARFU Rugby Coaching Tour with fellow All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu in Hong Kong.

“Rugby in the UAE has traditionally been spearheaded by expatriates, so it has been rewarding to help the game grow in local schools and communities with the HSBC ARFU Rugby Coaching Tour, which is dedicated to developing the game at all levels, all across Asia.”

Japan coach John Kirwan introduces rugby to local students as part of the HSBC ARFU Rugby Coaching Tour

Japan are playing the UAE for the first time since the creation of the new national association, having enjoyed home wins over the former Arabian Gulf in HSBC Asian 5 Nations matches in 2008 and last year.

As Kirwan returned his attention to his ‘Brave Blossoms’, Frank Hadden led a clinic on Friday morning for U-14 players at the Dubai Exiles Rugby Football Club.

“I came to Dubai last year with the HSBC ARFU Rugby Coaching Tour and I really liked what I saw, so it’s great to come again to witness the continued enthusiasm for this great game of ours,” said Hadden, who coached Scotland from 2005 to 2009.

“There is real potential for growth here, especially in the Arab community and we are delighted to try to assist with development at all levels.”

Hadden spearheaded the inaugural HSBC ARFU Rugby Coaching Tour last year following his four-year stint with Scotland and this year he has again been leading the bulk of activity along with Ismail Kadir, Development Officer for ARFU (Asian Rugby Football Union) and a former Singapore centre.

The Tour’s activity in the UAE started on Tuesday with a session for Al Marif Secondary School for Boys in Rashidiya, Deira, while Hadden and Kadir conducted a teachers’ workshop in Salahuddin Sports Hall in Bur Dubai on Wednesday.

Dean Herewini of the HSBC Penguin International Coaching Academy with a local student in Dubai this week

Dean Herewini, representing the HSBC Penguin International Coaching Academy, was part of the coaching staff for Thursday’s sessions and was part of Friday’s clinic for the Dubai Exiles youngsters.

Division IV is also being held at The Sevens this week and on Friday evening the third place playoff between Uzbekistan and Jordan and the final between Lebanon and Qatar both kick off at 6.00pm before the UAE host Japan at 8.00pm.

Abdulfattah Sharaf, CEO of HSBC UAE, said: “Today we were delighted to see the HSBC ARFU Rugby Coaching Tour continue its widespread activities in the UAE for the week, and we’re happy that it returned to build on its excellent work here in Dubai last year.

“The HSBC Asian 5 Nations enables the world’s local bank to engage with the local community and at the same time, the coaching programme is designed to inspire the next generation of rugby players.”

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Papua New Guinea (PNG) has secured itself promotion to Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div. 2) to be held in April in Dubai after Rarua Dikana’s men beat Denmark in Hong Kong today to take its fourth victory in a row of Pepsi ICC WCL Div. 3.

Usman Shuja led USA to victory today, helping to secure the Americans a win over Oman in a tightly fought contest at Hong Kong Cricket Club, while hosts Hong Kong battled to beat Italy by one wicket.

By PNG securing promotion today, it means Friday’s games will be crucial for the five other teams in the tournament with regards to the second available promotion spot, the two relegation places and the two berths that will see two sides remain in WCL Div. 3

PNG continued its domination of this event today seeing off with ease a challenge from Denmark at Kowloon Cricket Club. The Danes batting line-up failed once again today with the top seven batsmen in the side all departing after being caught in the field by the in-form Papua New Guineans.

Aftab Ahmed was the top scorer for the Danish side with his 39 not out to help his side to 112, but his efforts were in vain as Loa Nou, Hitolo Areni, Chris Amini and Chris Kent claimed two wickets each leaving one each for their captain Rarua Dikana and team-mate Mahuru Dai.

Having given the Danish a master class in fielding, it was then up to PNG’s batsmen to showcase their abilities to the European side. Unfortunately for Asad Vala it wasn’t his day to give a batting exhibition, with the 23-year-old departing for a duck, but he made way for Chris Amini who alongside Tony Ura knocked off the required runs in just 22.3 overs.

Today’s victory has secured the side a place in Saturday’s final no matter what the results are on Friday when all the teams square up for the final round-robin section of the tournament.

PNG head coach Andy Bichel was pleased with the side’s strong performance and sees the promotion to WCL Div. 2 a culmination of hard work that has paid off. “I am immensely proud of the boys and feel that qualifying for Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2 achieves a goal we set ourselves18 months ago.

“The final on Saturday is now a short term goal and taking home the title is an important part of finishing this tournament,” said Bichel.

Man of the match Chris Amini said, “It is nice to finally contribute at this level and have a really strong game. I’ve not won an ICC man of the match award since Pepsi ICC WCL Div. 3 in 2007 in Darwin and I feel proud to again achieve this honour.

“I feel at this stage as a team we are approaching our best and I know we still have more to achieve.”

Aftab Ahmed takes a tumble (Pic: ICC)

In the highest scoring fixture of the day, Hong Kong battled against Italy in a thrilling match that saw the hosts claim victory by one wicket with just two balls remaining.

Alessandro Bonora won the toss at Mission Road and elected to bat first and despite his opening batsmen failing to fire, he put on a hard-fought 77 while Peter Petricola provided his first century of the tournament to help the Italians to a total of 235 on a track that saw little action for the bowlers.

When Hong Kong took to the field the top order continued its poor run of form and none of the side made a solid partnership until the arrival of the middle order duo Nizakat Khan and Waqas Barkat and then later on captain Najeeb Amar.

The trio helped the side to rise up from being 68-5 to a point where victory was in the side’s grasp but with one wicket remaining and only one over to go, the match looked sure to be in the grasp of the Italians. However, tail-end batsman Aizaz Khan had other ideas, smashing his way to 24 in just eight balls, including three sixes, to help steer the side to victory with just two balls remaining.

Hong Kong captain Amar was naturally thrilled with the side’s comeback but is keen to remain focussed on Friday’s big fixture against table-toppers PNG.

“I’m obviously relieved we won today after a tightly fought game where the track wasn’t really giving anything to our bowlers but when it came to us making the runs the task fell to the bottom order. They deserve credit for how they played, all of them taking responsibility to help us to victory.

“Friday we face PNG who have been having a great tournament here but I’m not worried, we’ve a psychological advantage over them. We beat them in the warm-ups with a Hong Kong side that wasn’t full strength so I believe we’ve the upper hand going into Friday’s game, not them,” said Amar.

Tomorrow is a rest day with play resuming on Friday.

Points Table (Day Four)

Fiji ended South Africa’s plans for a successful Dubai Sevens title defence when they won a brilliant contest 17-5 at The Sevens rugby stadium in the United Arab Emirates’ city of Dubai earlier today.

South Africa, who raced through the pool stages unbeaten, started the match in great form and was impressive during the opening stages. It was therefore no surprise when Ryno Benjamin scored after a good build up.

Fiji hit back just before the break when star attacker William Ryder dotted down to level the scores at halftime.

They forced the South Africans into errors during an epic second half display, scoring two more tries through Watisoni Votu and Jiuta Lufumailagi to seal a deserved victory. When BlitzBokke speedster Rayno Benjamin knocked on a pass when SA was on the attack, it was virtually game-over for the men in Green & Gold.

Paul Treu, the SA coach, praised the Fijians but added he was pleased with the overall form of his team.

“Fiji is just so dangerous on attack and they forced us into making crucial errors inside our own half. I’m pleased with the intensity and the commitment of the guys. Protection of the ball and taking your chances when it matters, are two crucial elements of Sevens rugby and Fiji was just better on the day,” explained Treu.

New Zealand defeated Kenya 17-14 in their quarter-final clash. England got the better of Argentina to win 17-12 in extra-time, while Samoa beat Australia 28-27.

The Springbok Sevens now face Kenya in the Plate semi-finals later tonight.

The International Rugby Board’s 2009/2010 Sevens World Series kicks off in the desert city of Dubai tomorrow.  Paul Treu and his defending champions have been in the city since last week in order to give them sufficient time to acclimatise and prepare for the first tournament of another long season.  However, the week has already seen veteran Marius Schoeman withdrawing from the side due to injury and Treu has had to bring in new-comer Deon Helberg as cover.

Marius Schoeman is out of the Dubai Sevens (Pic: Dubai Sevens 2008)

Television Schedule

Hong Kong is 4 hours ahead of Dubai and if you’re lucky to have access to South Africa’s Supersport 6 on DSTV, here is the schedule for the weekend (Times stated as South Africa local, add 6 hours for Hong Kong):

Friday December 4, 2009

07:10-08:45   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Games 1 – 4

08:45-10:20   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Games 5 – 8  (SA vs. Wales Game 7)

10:50-12:20   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Games 9 – 12

12:20-13:55   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Games 13 – 16 (SA vs. Arabian Gulf Game 15)

14:25-16:25   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Games 17 – 20

16:25-18:15   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Games 21 – 24 (SA vs. AUS Game 24)

Saturday December 5, 2009

07:10-08:45   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Bowl QF

08:45-10:15   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Cup QF

10:15-11:00   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Shield SF

11:00-11:40   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Bowl SF

11:40-12:35   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Plate SF

(16:20-17:10 CSN  IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Cup SF)

16:20-17:10   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Cup SF

(17:10-17:40 CSN  IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Shield Final)

17:10-17:40   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Shield Final

(17:40-18:10 CSN  IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Bowl Final)

17:40-18:10   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Bowl Final

(18:10-18:40 CSN  IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Plate Final)

18:10-18:40   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Plate Final

(18:40-19:30 CSN  IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Cup Final)

18:40-19:30   SS6   IRB 7s World Series: Dubai Sevens – Cup Final

Read everything about the Springboks’ Dubai and World Series campaign on our sister-website: BlitzBokke.com 

In case you haven’t noticed, the 2009/2010 season of the International Rugby Board’s (IRB) Sevens World Series kicks off in Dubai in just over a week’s time.  Coach Paul Treu’s Springbok Sevens Team is firmly ensconced in their Dubai hotel in anticipation of their Dubai Title defence. 

If it genuinely passed you by (It better be! Check my angry face!)  don’t be concerned, Howzit-HongKong.com’s sister website BlitzBokke.com is firmly on TOP of things!  Just pop in over at the website for everything you need to know about what’s happening in Dubai and all the other tournaments in the Series.  There are stories about the Bokke’s new playing strip, their new Captain, stories from fans across the world and many more.   

The BlitzBokke is in the favourable position of having to defend their titles in the first two tournaments of the Series: Dubai (5-6 December) and George, South Africa a week later so…

Stay tuned for all the action!

Bokke Bo!

Top Gun se Gat!  Die ouens is WOES en hulle VATTIKAKKIE!

Click HERE to go to BlitzBokke.com

Click HEREto join the BlitzBokke Fanpage on FaceBook.

(IRB.COM) Wednesday 11 February 2009

Only a last-gasp try prevented Hong Kong from lifting the silverware at the Marist Sevens invitational competition in Wellington at the weekend, as Rodney McIntosh’s side nears the final stages of its Rugby World Cup Sevens preparations.

Hong Kong qualified for the Dubai showpiece in October last year, finishing second to Japan on home soil, and McIntosh has been delighted by the climax to their patient build-up in Wellington.

After a summer camp in July, Hong Kong won the Denmark Sevens in August. They played in the Jonah Jones tournament in Malaysia and also competed at the Hottest 7s in Darwin the week before travelling to Wellington.

Following the Marist event McIntosh will now refine his current travelling squad of 16 to a tighter unit of 12 to compete in Dubai.

While he errs away from judging the side too much on results, the coach does crave the kind of big win that has narrowly eluded them over the past few years.

Major scalp

“We’re looking to take a major scalp in Dubai.” he said. “We’ve been on the edge, in Hong Kong last year we drew with France, we should have put Australia away on the Friday and for this team it’s time to turn a corner and start winning games like that. Closing down the close ones, keeping pressure on the ones that we should put away.

“We’re realistic with our chances against England, but for a lot of our guys it’s a privilege to play against them, so we’ll step up to that challenge.

“Kenya are very good athletes but we’ll probably be focusing on the Kenya and Tunisia games and targeting those.

“I hope we go away and put in some creditable performances and for the guys it’s really important for them to enjoy the occasion. They have worked hard and it is a privilege to play at this level and test yourself against the world’s best, and that’s the message.

Boots on, switch on

“We have a saying in our team, ‘boots on switch on’, but when it’s boots off they enjoy each other’s company, they have a good time and that’s part of the collective rugby experience for us.”

In the increasingly professional arena of international Sevens it becomes tougher for the likes of Hong Kong to compete against New Zealand, England and South Africa, but this year the Hong Kong union has taken the unprecedented move of contracting four players – Rowan Varty, Mark Wright, Keith Robinson and forward Alex Ng – to allow them to commit more of their time to rugby.

“It’s new, it’s a step into the unknown and we would like to see how it goes,” said McIntosh. “Eventually we would like to contract more players full time, but it depends what access we get to the IRB Sevens circuit.

“It’s a question of balancing that, balancing the nature of Hong Kong where it’s a career-driven and work-oriented place making it a challenge for these guys to commit to training and play rugby at this level, and then our third challenge is having our oversees players away from the programme. It all goes into the melting pot of making it a challenge for us.

“Our profile is still very young. A lot of these guys are in university or just finishing university, so this group of players will play together for the next four or five years.”