Rugby: Bahrain beat Harlequins, 37-15, in Abu Dhabi – Gulf Digital News

Rugby: Bahrain beat Harlequins, 37-15, in Abu Dhabi – Gulf Digital News

Man of the Match: Rory Drummond

Bahrain continued their return to West Asia Premiership rugby with a second win on the road as they beat Abu Dhabi Harlequins 37-15 at Zayed Sports City. Prior to this game, both teams had started their campaigns with an away win each.

Expectations were of a tough, hard-contested game and the fixture lived up to this expectation. Tempers ran hot and both teams were reduced to 14 players each during the game.

The first quarter of the game was an arm-wrestle with both teams taking turns to dominate. It looked like Bahrain had broken the deadlock first after a line break by Jordan Viggars, but referee Jaco De Wit ruled the move involved a forward pass and awarded a scrum to Quins.

Quins cleared their lines from the scrum with a pressure-relieving kick into Bahrain’s half of the pitch. The relief didn’t last long. Bahrain winger Kyran Odendaal was hit late after a deft kick-through and Bahrain supporters in the crowd expected the cynical tackle would be rewarded with 10 minutes in the sun-bin.

However, the Quins player stayed on the pitch but it didn’t help. From the line-out inside Quins territory, a well-worked move saw Bahrain centre