There will plenty at stake when Bahrain welcome Jebel Ali Dragons this weekend, but amidst all the excitement ahead of the new rugby season kick-off and hype surrounding both teams’ prospects, the game will also provide two old friends with an opportunity to reminisce.
New Bahrain coach Louie Tonkin has been making some noise since arriving in July and talk of his early impact and aggressive recruitment drive has travelled to the UAE and Jebel Ali, where hope is also building that two dark years for Dragons can be put behind them.
Former dual code rugby star Henry Paul takes charge of his first competitive match in charge of Dragons on Friday and UAE winger Ian Overton will be hoping for a start and to make sure he spoils his old pal Tonkin’s Middle East bow.
Tonkin and Overton will be on opposite sides as the two teams clash in the 2016/17 West Asia Premiership opener, but 15 years ago they were lining up alongside each other as team-mates for Wales – playing basketball.
“I remember the first time I saw Lou. He was a school year older than me and I got invited to play for the national team a year up,” recalls Overton, 32.
“He was a big as he was now, full on beard, back hair, a complete monster with a tattoo at the age of 16.”
Louie Tonkin.
Overton, a PE teacher at Brighton College in Al Ain, has called the Emirates home since 2012. His net skills as a teenager earned him a basketball scholarship to prestigious Virginia Tech in America. Rugby was always his first love though and also proved fruitful; Overton has represented the UAE in three different codes in the last four years – union, sevens and league.
Overton joked that during their Wales days, Tonkin always played second fiddle to the points machine from Cowbridge, although now that he is set to face his friend’s revamped Bahrain team, he’s beginning to wish he wasn’t so cocky.
“I saw him a few weeks ago when Bahrain were in Dubai for pre-season and he told me his whole gameplan was putting bombs (high kicks) on me,” Overton said.
“(When we were playing basketball) we had an unbelievable coach. A guy called ‘Downtown’ Andy Brown. He used to scream, swear, kick chairs the lot.
“His expectations were so high and the pressure was always unbelievable. He brought us lads as players really close and he is probably the biggest influence in my sporting life.
“Me and Lou played under him for club and country and got to do a lot of travelling together over the years. I give Louie a lot of stick, he basically did all the rebounding for me while I scored all the points, but he’s a good mate.”
Bahrain were much improved last year, beating reigning West Asia champions Abu Dhabi Saracens on the opening day of the West Asia Championship in January before fading away to finish sixth.
And Overton, with Paul in charge of Dragons and Tonkin leading out Bahrain, is expecting tomorrow’s game to be fiercely contested between two sides with aspirations of silverware.
Overton added: “Bahrain are basically a top club Welsh side now. So they’ll be fit and tough. Louie really knows his stuff so they’ll be structured and have good skills.
“I’ve become good pals with the old Bahrain lads over the years so it’s always a class fixture, they’re a top bunch of boys. I’m excited for a class game, hopefully a win then let him know all about it at the clubhouse after the game.”
Tonkin admits it will be strange to see his old chum, not only because they’ll be on opposing sides, but the fact that they’ve both been successes in a different sport, and are now meeting up again 3,000 miles away from home.
“Regarding Ovey it’s going to be a weird one,” said 33-year-old Tonkin, who’s won trophies coaching Cardiff University, Llandovery, Pontypool and Carmarthen Quins in his homeland.
“I spoke to him in the week and I saw him briefly when we were in Dubai playing Sharks during pre-season. A few of the Dragons boys came over to watch us play.”
The Builth Wells native, who also made a name for himself as a player with Llandovery, Coventry and Gloucester Rugby, added: “It’s weird, the last time we were involved in sport together was Wales Under-18s and we went to Cherbourg together.
“I haven’t actually seen him play rugby yet but I hear he’s a very good player, so it’s going to be quite strange to think we played basketball together when we were 16, 17, 18 and now I’m going to be coaching a team against him.
“It’s going to be good to see him in Bahrain and I hope he has a good game – but not too good.”
