Despite a heavy 73-5 defeat in their opening Community League fixture, Mohammed Shaker is looking at the bigger picture for the UAE Shaheen team.
Their tentative first steps in the inaugural third-tier competition on Friday night were historic ones, the match against Jebel Ali Dragons 3rds the first time an all-Emirati 15-a-side team has played a competitive rugby match.
Shaker, a UAE Rugby Federation board member and chairman of the Shaheen programme, was one of only five Emirati players who met to throw a rugby ball around 10 years ago.
He has since immersed himself in promoting the game among locals, so Friday’s first foray into the Community League was an emotional evening for the 36-year-old.
“It was an historic moment. In 2005 we started with just five Emiratis, who had a dream to start an all-Emirati rugby team,” said Shaker.
“Now we have a team and Friday was an emotional thing for me, I cannot explain what it feels like to put 15 Emirati players onto a field in one team. It was like seeing a baby grow.”
Of course in tangible terms, the result was hardly encouraging. Shaker, however, knows it will take time for this team to gel and learn the game, but he believes they will be much improved for their trip to Al Ain Amblers 3rds on October 2.
“The result was disappointing but for most players they have only had three weeks of training and some are just picking up a rugby ball for the first time so it will take time.
“It is a good experience for them and we will get stronger match by match. I believe, in our next game, we will do better.”
Shaker’s love for the game was nurtured while studying in the UK 14 years ago. He attended university in Huddersfield in 2001 where he fell in love with a game in which men throw an egg-shaped ball around.
“I was studying in the UK and would watch the game a lot,” said Shaker, who would attend rugby league side Huddersfield Giants’ games at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium.
“I went there to watch the matches and I loved it.”
Shaker returned home to the UAE after four years in the UK, where his brother Yousef had been playing for the UAE Falcons. Together with youngest sibling Mohannad, they set about trying to popularise the game in the desert.
“We cannot stop, we have to encourage the local population to play rugby,” said Shaker.
“We are working closely with the UAE Rugby Federation, who are pushing us.
“Creating a team, in itself, is a huge step. In two years I think we will have two 15-a-side teams, while the player pathway programme is on the up too.”
For a nation of football lovers, Shaker believes it is all about changing attitudes.
“Emiratis know football, they don’t know rugby. It will take time to get them to change their attitudes,” he said.
“The Shaheen result is not important. The results will come but rugby culture is different to anything else in sport. They have the skills, speed and enthusiasm, now they just need the tactics and understanding.
“That’s what Apollo (Perelini, Shaheen head coach) will bring.
“It is step by step but the game is growing, definitely, and the only way is up.”
