Two Dubai clubs – Hurricanes and Exiles – claimed four titles between them in the HSBC Youth Rugby Series 2012/13 end of season prize-giving, which was attended by England great Jason Robinson.
The Exiles dominated the under-10, under-12 and under-14 categories while the Hurricanes were victorious in the under-8 division. The four winning teams across the season will receive a VIP training session with an HSBC Rugby Ambassador, plus a new set of rugby kit.
The HSBC Youth Rugby Series, which is in its second season and had over 5000 youngsters take part, involved two rugby World Cup winners; Robinson and Australia’s George Gregan, who were at the HSBC-sponsored Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Junior Rugby Tournament in November and the HSBC Rugby Festival in Doha in March.
Former fullback and winger Robinson was delighted to be back in the UAE for the grassroots festival in Abu Dhabi and said: “Huge congratulations to the Exiles and the Hurricanes; I am sure it was a well-deserved win. This achievement is undoubtedly the culmination of lots of hard work that the teams have put in across all four festivals.
“I am constantly amazed at the progress of the players every time I visit the region for an HSBC grassroots festival.”
The HSBC Youth Rugby Series has brought together four HSBC-sponsored junior rugby festivals in the Middle East to provide teams with an additional incentive to play towards.
All teams from U8s to U14s who entered to play in the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Junior Rugby Tournament, HSBC Rugby Festival Dubai, HSBC Rugby Festival Bahrain and HSBC Rugby Festival Doha during the 2012/13 rugby season were eligible to win points towards the grand prize.
Marcus Hurry, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at HSBC UAE, said: “The HSBC Youth Rugby Series has given thousands of young people the opportunity to play competitive rugby across the Middle East and it is wonderful to see over 5,000 children brought together by their passion for the sport.
“Through our series of rugby partnerships that we have built up over the past few years with local clubs we continue to see the game grow across the region with more children from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities developing an appetite for rugby.”
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