Statham shelves retirement plans to extend UAE career

Matt Jones - Editor 23:17 10/07/2016
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  • Captain fantastic: Niall Statham.

    UAE captain Niall Statham has delayed a decision to retire from international rugby because he wants to go out on his own terms.

    The 30-year-old Scotsman had planned to bring the curtain down on his UAE career following May’s Asia Rugby Championship campaign in Uzbekistan. However, after the 63-13 Division II semi-final hammering of the hosts in Tashkent, Statham missed the UAE’s crowning glory – a 70-18 thrashing of Thailand in the final to earn promotion back to Division I – with torn ankle ligaments.

    It was a proud moment for the Jebel Ali Dragons flanker, but the fact he missed out on captaining the side to glory has left him with a nagging feeling of unfinished business.

    “The plan was always to stop after Uzbekistan but that ended so badly for me in terms of injury it left me with a sense of injustice,” said Statham. “I wanted to sign off with some really big performances but I felt robbed of it.

    “I still haven’t been able to run since but I’m targeting Dubai Sevens as a comeback and then I’ll make my decision based on my condition. If that’s to be it for me, then I will feel very proud about what we achieved.”

    It’s been an historic year for the UAE. As captain, Statham led his adopted nation into the coveted top eight teams in the sevens format of the game in Asia last October – even though the UAE were later forced to drop out as they’d qualified for the 2015 Asian Sevens Series via invitation. He was then named skipper by new UAE rugby performance manager Apollo Perelini for the Uzbekistan tour.

    “Being tour captain in promotion was a massive moment which I’ll always remember, more in the wider context of what it can bring to rugby in the region,” added Statham.

    “To be the seventh best nation in sevens will always carry some frustration that it didn’t guarantee our place in the top eight, but we now hold wins against the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore who at one point or another had overtaken us.”

    Statham admitted he had been flirting with the idea of international retirement all season due to family commitments, with he and wife Veronica expecting their second child. However, with daughter Rose born earlier this week and joining big sister Ella, he revealed his family have actually been the ones encouraging him to continue.

    “It’s actually my wife that’s partly pushing me to keep going,” said Statham. “There’s room for an encore as long as I can get my fitness to where it was, giving myself a chance to go out on my own terms.”

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