Match Program Bahrain 1St XV Vs Dubai Hurricanes Friday 23Rd February Kick Off: 5Pm

Match Program Bahrain 1st XV vs Dubai Hurricanes Friday 23rd February Kick off: 5pm

RE D WALL A message from our Chairman

Mike Cunningham

Dear members, sponsors, visitors and guests A warm welcome once again to Bahrain Rugby Football Club. It’s a great pleasure to have both Dubai Hurricanes 1st XV and U19s here today and I’m sure you will join me in welcoming them to Bahrain. After a hard-fought game against Exiles last week, our 1st XV are guaranteed a place in the top 4 and to join the play-offs for the title of West Asia Champions. Where we ultimately find ourselves on the league table after the next 3 games will determine where our play-off games take place. Last year we reached the final in Abu Dhabi after beating Doha in a tough semi-final in Qatar. Louie and the boys claim the energy from Bahrain’s supporters plays a key role in our home wins and are determined to bring this year’s semi-final to Bahrain, so expect them to be fired up for today’s game. After losing last weekend to Abu Dhabi Harlequins, and with only 2 games left to play, Hurricanes can’t now make the play-offs. They’re a strong club with a proud history, so this will not stop them battling hard for the win today and having a say in the final standings. We often bemoan how few opportunities our U19s have to play a competitive 15s game, so we appreciate very much Hurricanes U19s making the trip to Bahrain today. These young men, and the minis, juniors and age-grade players in-between, are the future of rugby in the Gulf. It’s great to be able to start our afternoon of rugby with this fixture and we hope to make it a regular feature in future seasons. Thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy the games. Yalla Bahrain! Mike Cunninham A message from our Director of Rugby

Welcome Dubai Hurricanes to BRFC!

Louie Tonkin

We welcome Dubai Hurricanes and our supporters to BRFC today in what bodes to be a great day at our club. Double headers have worked well for us this season with the help of our Golden Oldies and today we have managed to secure a Under 19 fixture for our boys against Dubai Hurricanes Under 19s who have gladly travelled to play in this Gulf www.oakbh.com Fixture - its great for our young players to get exposure to other Gulf clubs. What a fantastic night at the club last week - we achieved a fantastic win against the current league leaders Dubai Exiles and the team performed exceptionally well under high pressure. We talked about emotional energy all week and making sure we were right up there mentally in our performance - the players did that and more and the bench coming on kept it going for the full 80. We now sit in a very healthy position only 4 points off the top and that win secured our top 4 playoff spot for the 2nd season running with 3 rounds still to go which is a great achievement in itself. We know we have to win all three games and hope other results go our way to win the West Asia Premiership (WAP) League Title but most importantly now we have a great chance to secure a home semi final in the West Asia Cup Playoffs. Our 1st team have a tough task today in the form of the 5th placed Hurricanes who are an extremely dangerous side with an exciting back 3 and a strong, heavy front row. They unfortunately have just missed out on the Top 4 but will be coming here with the shackles off and certainly no pressure. We are dedicated to achieving our goal of a big win to keep the pressure on the teams above us in the West Asia Premiership but more importantly we need to build momentum in our performances. Although last week was a great result and one of the finest wins since I’ve been here, we were inefficient in some key areas including our Line-out and our kicking game. We have a great opportunity whilst already secured a top 4 playoff spot to really focus on these areas and build for some critical playoff matches to come. But make no bones about it we are still fighting for the league title and we know we have to play well today to win this game first and foremost and hopefully if the win is secured late on we can look at playing for the all important bonus point which could become crucial in deciding the final WAP standings. We hope you enjoy the games today and thanks as always for your support. We also ask you to please respect the referees at all times - they are all volunteers giving time up from their families to travel to us and referee our games and without them we would be in trouble. Yours in Rugby Louie Tonkin Player Profile

Rhys Fitzgerald Backrow

Date of Birth - 16th August 1995 Nickname - Fitzy / Fat head / Crocodile Dundee Best Player played with - Jack Condy (Scarlets) with Penallta RFC Best Player played against - Georgie Williams (Wigan) for Wales RL u’20s Most Memorable Game - Penallta Youth v Gilfach Goch, Millennium Stadium (Welsh Youth Cup Final 2014) Previous Clubs - Cross Keys, University of South Wales, Penallta, South Wales Scorpions RL, Nelson.

“Fitzy” has been a huge addition to our squad this season and has part of an impressive back row quartet this season of himself, Rich Wilkinson, Elliot Behan and Alastair Crombie. Being an ex Rugby League junior international Fitzy loved the physical combative style of the game and is known for his defensive collisions and presence in defence. He’s won the Man of the Match Award three times this season already which is impressive in itself but opposition teams are really starting to fear and respect him out here. Fitzy hails from Penallta in Caerphilly South Wales and is proud of his home club Penallta. Fitzy played both Rugby Union and Rugby League growing up where he won the honour of playing for Wales Rugby League through under 16, under 18 and under 20 level. Louie Tonkin first came into contact with Rhys when Rhys was playing for Celtic Crusaders and Wales U16 rugby league (Tonkin was the conditioning coach). Tonkin then coached against Rhys a few times whilst Rhys played for Premiership outfit Cross Keys and also USW (University of South Wales) - after impressive performances and an opportunity to make contact through close friend and USW teammate Graham Bishop, Rhys got offered the chance to come to Bahrain. Rhys has a Masters degree in Wildlife Biology and loves to travel all over the world to explore. He is currently working part time in Al Areen Wildlife park here in Bahrain and assists our sports department with junior coaching. 1ST TEAM SELECTION VS DUBAI HURRICANES 1ST TEAM@ SELECTION BRFC FRI 23rd VS DUBAI FEBRUARY HURRICANES 5PM 1ST TEAM SELECTION VS DUBAI HURRICANES @ BRFCTeam FRI Selection 23rd FEBRUARY 5PM Team Selection STARTING@ XV BRFC FRI 23rd FEBRUARY 5PM

1 DAVIS TUI STARTING XV STARTING XV FINISHERS 1ST TEAM SELECTION2 VSLINDSEY DUBAI GIBSON EXILES 1 DAVIS TUI 1 DAVIS TUI R MATT MCKEE @ BRFC FRI 16TH FEBRUARY3 MANI TUPOU 5PM FINISHERS FINISHERS 2 LINDSEY GIBSON 2 LINDSEY GIBSON R OLI SANSON 4 MARK BURNELL R MATT MCKEE R MATT MCKEE 3 MANI TUPOU 3 MANI TUPOU R MAX SALE STARTING XV R OLI SANSON 5 JONNY KENNY 4 R OLI SANSON 1 MARK BURNELL 4 OLI MARKSANSON BURNELL FINISHERS R RICH WILKINSONR MAX SALE 2 LINDSEY GIBSON 6 RHYS FITZGERALD 5 JONNY KENNYR MAX SALE 5 R MATT MCKEE R TOMMY BOOTHR RICH WILKINSON 3 JONNY KENNY DAVIS TUI 7 ALASTAIR CROMBIE6 RHYS FITZGERALDR R SESIMANI TUPOU RICH WILKINSON R 46 RICHRHYS WILKINSON FITZGERALD R TOBY BORROWTOMMY BOOTH R MARK7 BURNELLALASTAIR CROMBIE 5 JONNY KENNY 8 ELLIOT BEHAN R TOMMY BOOTH R TOBY BORROW 7 ALASTAIR CROMBIE R ALASTAIR8 ELLIOT CROMBIE BEHAN R CHRIS COUPLAND 6 ELLIOT BEHAN R 9 ROB BENNETTR CHRIS COUPLAND R TOBY BORROW CHRIS COUPLAND 78 RHYSELLIOT FITZGERALD BEHAN 9 ROB BENNETT 10 R GRAHAM BISHOP R 8 TOMMY BOOTH LUKE RADLEY 10 LUKE RADLEY CHRIS COUPLAND 9 R TERENCE TANTOH 9 ROBROB BENNETT BENNETT 11 GRAHAM BISHOP 11 GRAHAM BISHOP 1010 LUKELUKE RADLEY RADLEY 12 11 GREG HEATH 12 ADAM WALLACE (C) ADAM WALLACE (C) 11 GRAHAM BISHOP 12 ADAM WALLACE (C) 13 GREG HEATH 13 GREG HEATH 1312 DAI ADAMEVANS WALLACE (C) 14 TERENCE TANTOH 14 IWAN PHILLIPS 14 TERENCE TANTOH vs 13 GREG HEATH 15 IWAN PHILLIPS 15 DEINA MORETE 15 IWAN PHILLIPS 14 TERENCE TANTOH 15 IWAN PHILLIPS RE D WALL Player Profile

Mark Burnell Lock

Date of Birth - 12th November 1990 Nickname - Burnie Best Player played with - Tubby Burrows Best Player played against - Steve Thompson, Trevor Leota, Thomas Castaignede Most Memorable Game - Any game we beat Doha (mainly semi-final last season), League win, Cup win with Bahrain, Dubai 7s Plate Champions Honours - Arabian Gulf U19s 4 times and captained them for 2

Previous Clubs - Cardiff University

Mark Burnell has been an ever present in Bahrain 1st XV for a long time! Mark grew up in Southend-in-Sea in the UK and moved to Bahrain in 2007 - he’s played rugby since and played for the first team as a 16 year old and is still one of our key players to this day! Last season Burnie started in 12 of our 14 league matches including our West Asia Cup Semi Finals and Final and he has played in all 9 West Asia Premiership matches this season starting 7 of them amidst some tough competition. Being a talented athlete Football was his main sport before moving to Bahrain and Rugby was a new game to him. “Burnie” started playing for the colts side when he arrived but quickly became part of the first team due to his size and athleticism - that year BRFC went on to win the league and cup in its old format; Burnie became infamous for scoring a try from less than a meter! Burnie represented the Arabian Gulf Colts and captained the side on 2 occasions unfortunately before the Arabian Gulf program folded. He went to University in Cardiff and played rugby for the Cardiff University club for a couple of years - played under some great rugby men in Ed Lewis and Martyn Fowler but then unfortunately blew out his ACL which prohibited his chances in his final year. Unfortunately Mark and Bahrain coach Louie Tonkin missed each other in Cardiff University Rugby by one season - but Mark did get to know and actually live with current Bahrain player Iwan Phillips for a short time and helped Iwan to settle in when he arrived to the island. Burnie is heart and soul Bahrain Rugby - even when he moved to Qatar for 18 months he still insisted on travelling back to Bahrain every week to play for the club. He has played a massive part in the resurgence of Rugby in Bahrain and worked extremely hard in the summer of 17 to ensure he met the physical needs of the new brand of rugby we play out here. He has turned into one of our best Line-out forwards and one of our key players - so much so Burnie is now also in the 1st team Leadership Group along with 7 other peers. WESTWest Asia ASIAPremiership table PREMIERSHIP Next Fixtures

POINTS POINTS PLACE TEAM PLAYED WON DRAW LOST DIFF POINTS FOR AGAINST

1 ABU DHABI HARLEQUINS 9 7 1 1 354 144 +210 35

2 JEBEL ALI DRAGONS 9 7 0 2 311 156 +165 34

3 DUBAI EXILES 10 6 0 4 361 132 +229 33

4 BAHRAIN 9 6 1 2 273 128 +145 31

5 DUBAI HURRICANES 10 4 0 6 203 273 -70 20

6 DUBAI EAGLES 10 1 0 9 93 488 -395 5

7 ABU DHABI SARACENS 9 1 0 8 68 344 -274 4

NEXT 1st XV FIXTURES: > 2nd March 5PM DSC Eagles Vs Bahrain 1st XV (AWAY) NEXT FIXTURE - MAR 2ND @ 5PM - DSC > 9th March EAGLES 6PM - Bahrain VS1st XV BAHRAINVs Jebel Ali Dragons (HOME) - MAR 9TH @ 6PM - BAHRAIN VS JEBEL ALI DRAGONS Mascot

COLE Join the family. CRAWFORD Reignite your senses with the AMG C 43 Coupe & Cabriolet.

If you love performance there is no better choice than the AMG C 43 Coupe and the AMG C 43 Cabriolet. School: BSB Team: Under 12’s For a limited period choose from either ‘AMG 4’ or ‘AMG 3’ deal packages when you Position: Outside Centre buy any one of the AMG 43 Coupe or the Cabriolet. Offer is valid on exclusive units Time in Bahrain: 3 years available in stock. His Words: Rugby is great because everyone shows passion on the pitch, I Terms & Conditions apply also love to tackle. Coach Mike Camara on Cole: Tenacious and fearless... size is but a shadow... not an actual shape!

Al Haddad Motors, Kingdom of Bahrain. Tel: 17785454 [email protected], www.bahrain.mercedesbenzme.com BAHRAIN 1ST XV SQUAD 2017-18 Bahrain 1st xv#RE Squad 2017/2018 D WALL

O.SANSON D.TUI R. MUNCASTER A. DALGARNO M. MCKEE L.GIBSON K. HANAHOE L. RADLEY O. LUKE I. PHILLIPS R. PREEDY D. EVANS

PROP PROP PROP PROP PROP HOOKER SCRUM HALF 10/ 15 10/ 15 10/ 15 OUTSIDE HALF CENTRE

Sponsored by: Sponsored by: Sponsored by: Sponsored by: Sponsored by: Kevin Penhale Owen Brown Alan Moore WINGER

N. YOUNG J.KENNY M.BURNELL M. SALE A.CROMBIE R. FITZGERALD G. BISHOP D. MORETE J. LEWIS C. COUPLAND G. HEATH T. TANTOH

D.MORETE

HOOKER LOCK LOCK LOCK BACK ROW BACK ROW OUTSIDE BACK OUTSIDE BACK OUTSIDE BACK OUTSIDE BACK OUTSIDE BACK OUTSIDE BACK