Cairo Rugby Club defeated Alexandria 14-7 on Friday, in a free flowing game, played on a well grassed pitch in front of a vocal crowd that kept the bar staff busy at Victory College.
Cairo’s dominance was in stark contrast to their defeat by the Fijian peacekeepers from the Sinai, who ran in 20 tries in 20 minutes two years ago.
Two years on from the Fijian massacre, Cairo Rugby’s development plan is beginning to harvest the Egyptian talent mentored at the club, replacing the journeymen expatriates for whom rugby is more a religious ritual than a sport that must be played out before worshiping at the club house bar.
On Friday, at least half of Cairo’s players were Egyptian and according to Alexandria’s coach, Mark Smith, Alexandria fielded only four expatriate players in their three teams.
“We find ’em in the gym, said Smith, an Australian from Perth, who works as an accountant with the Club’s major sponsor, Pharaoh Gold Mines.
I guess the gym is the best place to trawl for muscle, as a strong scrum is the foundation of a successful rugby team and the grunting sweat emanating from both packs of forwards was testament to both good coaching and hundreds of bench presses.
“Cairo Rugby Club is the best run expatriate club in Cairo, said Andy Charman, who spent the afternoon in the second row of that testosterone press known as the scrum, a position that not even the UK comedian, Ricky Gervais would find amusing.
Cairo’s fly half, Peter Hall, who is missing a front tooth and has the appearance of an Australian shearer, found space all day for his three quarters, not only in the First XV’s match, but also earlier during the Tens Tournament, which Cairo also won scoring nine tries to Alexandria’s three.
Hall showed his pedigree and vision in one of the earlier Tens games with a racking kick that brought Cairo within five meters of Alexandria’s line. From the following line-out, Hall threw a convincing dummy pass and stepped back down the blind-side, where his fancy foot work eluded the defence, scoring in the corner.
Such class, shown by Hall, is the perfect partner for the Egyptian muscle up front in the engine room, which should keep Cairo Rugby, like their goal posts, the highest in the Middle East, at the top of the Arabian Gulf rugby region.
For the players, three hours and 15 minutes under Egypt’s bright spring sunshine left the ground strewn with empty water bottles. But players got a break between games, unlike, Ron Wilson, aged 62, who refereed all afternoon, keeping players separated when tempers flared, demanding over-eager supporters get back from the touch line and keeping the scrum under close scrutiny, as it’s a beast known for skulduggery.
Wilson is the archetypical rugby man. Born and bred in Texas he has been in Cairo for 18 months with an American firm building a mono-rail connecting Port Said Road with sixth of October. He has played in Sydney and racked up 1350 games with the Hawaiian Harlequins. He was on winning US national teams at high school and with his university, Texas Tech. He was on the paddock in Carmel, California, with the last surviving member of the 1924 US rugby gold medal winning team, has played at the prestigious Hong Kong Sevens Tournament and in every one of rugby’s 15 positions.
Rugby is a life long passion and for those acolytes, like Wilson, who work in the global village, it is the surest way to make friends in a new location, to network or find employment. A rugby club is akin to a secret society, except that everyone is welcome and like a secret society its members are as thick as thieves.
Cairo Rugby Club not only develops Egyptian talent, but also runs junior teams and a women’s rugby team. The Maadi Club House is home to hundreds of members, many of them expatriate professionals and hosts regular band nights, discos and fancy dress parties, including rugby’s favorite, cross-dressing.
Rugby was once describe as a ‘thugs game played by gentlemen’ and football, ‘a gentlemen’s game played by thugs.’ That wag may well have been right, as when the game ended Egyptians and expats alike packed up and cleaned up before heading back to the club house for the kind of party I was sorry to miss due to a dinner date – if you know what I mean, and I know you do!
