Memories of Oman – Lankans upset fancied team in Gulf Sevens – By Clifford Lazarus

Rugby in the Arabian Peninsula was first played by British military and expatriate oil workers in Kuwait in the 1940’s.

Following the accession of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said in 1970, several expatriates arrived in Oman to work on various Government projects. Three of these: Hamish Donald, Brian Fawcett and Tony Jenkins contacted a number of individuals they thought may be interested in their beloved rugby and on July 26th 1971 The Muscat Rugby Football Club was founded and His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said accepted to be Patron of the Club. 

Around that time, rugby clubs had also been established in UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah), Saudi Arabia (Dhahran), Qatar (Doha), and Bahrain culminating in the formation of the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union.

A site in Wattayah was allocated to the club and the playing field of sand and gravel was carved out of a major sand dune, not a surface you would wish to be tackled hard on.  Four telegraph poles with metal pipes served as goal posts. The original gold and blue strip was replaced in 1977 when permission was given to play in Oman’s national colours of red, green and white.  The first clubhouse at Wattayah consisted of porta-cabins donated by a local building contractor and these served the members well over the following years before they were destroyed by fire in February 1995.

The inaugural International Sevens tournament held in March 1973 was made particularly memorable as H.M. Sultan Qaboos bin Said arrived to watch the final with Muscat ‘A’ losing to Dubai ‘ A’ 6-22. The new clubhouse was opened at the 1974 Sevens with Abu Dhabi ‘A’ defeating Muscat ‘A’ 10-0.

The Year 1975 saw an influx of Sri Lankans into Oman and many sportsmen in the mix including former rugby stalwarts Raja Sahabandu and Kumar Buell. 

Raja Sahabandu’s introduction to Muscat rugby is anecdotal. The former Benedictine and CR&FC legend arrived in 1975 as Quantity Surveyor for Qurum Contractors. Patrick Weber and Jermaine Dekker who worked for the Royal Oman Police coerced Raja to witness a rugby fixture on the first weekend of his arrival, taking the the opportunity to introduce  Raja to  the Chairman of Muscat Rugby Football Club, Dick Carrington.   A friendly atmosphere prevailed when it was known that Raja worked for the company whose Contracts Manager, William Gobal, was President of the rugby club.   After exchanging niceties and becoming aware of Raja’s playing days alongside John Dawes, Mervin Davis and John Taylor in the Lankan club scene – and also represented Sri Lanka against visiting Blackheath XV, Carrington spontaneously handed over a pair of boots, jersey and shorts to Raja and said: “ok son, you are playing for us today”! Raja’s remonstrations and protests fell on deaf ears.  Positioned at scrum half, Raja exhibited his skills on debut and became a permanent feature for MRFC, being included in team tours to the Gulf states and Singapore.  Kumar Buell, Sathikumar Fonseka and Arthur Fernandez were the other Sri Lankans who played for Muscat.

All Ceylon Rugby Legend  and Captain of  CR & FC,  Sari De Sylva, who arrived in 1976 to take up duties with BBME was cajoled by colleagues  Nick Bryan (top winger for MRFC) and Robert Bray to come out of retirement and represent BBME in the inaugural Muscat Sevens tournament in 1977.  In later years Sari managed the first Lions outfit in the Rothmans Seven-a-side tournament hosted by Muscat in 1980. 

At the Dubai rugby sevens in 1978, Kumar Buell, a wizard on the cricket arena renowned for  dazzling batting and acrobatic fielding, proved a magician on the rugby field.  Playing with verve and considerable skill, Kumar left an indelible mark with two tries as Muscat beat the host,  Dubai A , by 10 points to 6 in an exciting final.  Fittingly, Kumar was adjudged “Man-of-the-Tournament” and Muscat was acknowledged to be the best side in the tournament claiming the Silver Khanjar Trophy, previously won by Bahrain for three years.

Kumar also represented MRFC at the gulf rugby union championships.  His scintillating runs combined with impeccable ball-handling skills provided the ideal foil for Muscat’s other winger, Alan Malcolm.  Together, this pair outran their opponents and played major roles in Muscat winning the Gulf Rugby Union championship for two successive years.

The opportunity for a combined Sri Lankan team to showcase its talent dawned in 1980 at the first-ever British Airways-Rothmans Gulf 7s Rugby tournament. 

Representing Sri Lanka as the “Lions”, the squad was managed by Sari de Sylva and comprised: 

Mohan Balasuriya (Trinity and CR&FC)

Anura Goonetilleke (Royal and CR&FC)

Sukumar (Royal and CR&FC)

Kumar Buell (CR&FC)

Rizano Rajap (ex-Issipathana)

Raja Sahabandu (St Benedicts and CR&FC)

Tikiri Ellepola (Army)

Vijitha Jayasinghe (ex St Thomas)

Brian Dissanayake (St Mary’s)

Clifford Lazarus (ex St Josephs)

Kumar Lawrence (ex St Josephs)

Indraj Waas (ex St Josephs)

Prakash Fernandopulle (St Benedicts)

Patrick Weber (St Joseph’s)

Facing the hosts and favourites Muscat in the curtain raiser, the Lions were impressive before they ran out of puff over the second half. 

In the second game,  pitted against a strong Abu Dhabi side, comprising burly European expatriates, this could have been a mismatch. That it was far from that said as much of the determination and spirited young Lions outfit.

The Lions opened scoring in the first few minutes and led with a converted try.  Abu Dhabi struck back to level scores and went ahead after lemons with an unconverted try – 8/5.  The resolute Lions fought back, scoring against the run of play to snatch the lead for the second time 10/8 and held on to finish with a giddy flourish and walked off the pitch with their fair share of satisfaction.  “I am pretty proud of the effort the boys put out there and to come out with the win – we made a goal that we didn’t just want to be in history, we wanted to create it” said Sari de Sylva.

To-date, that  is the only recorded win by a Sri Lankan representative team in Muscat’s rugby history.

The Lions participated in sevens tournaments in later years with the addition of late Sandy Hamid (Havelocks), late Arthur Fernandez (Havelocks), Sugath Tennekoon (CH&FC) and Maurice Steinwall (St Peter’s) and though not registering a win, the team always provided a wonderful display.

In November 1997, MRFC  moved into a new clubhouse in Al Khuwair with the help of mainly local contractors who gave generously of their time and materials. With the opening of this new facility Muscat RFC entered a new era.

Continuing in this tradition, in 2006 the Club started the long awaited conversion of the sand field to a grass pitch. The first match on the green turf was against Abu Dhabi on 10th Nov 2006.

Additionally, Sri Lankans in Oman also took part in Netball tournaments in late seventies/early eighties led by Nandini Gooneratne and included Astrid Don Paul, Firoza Mohideen, Doreen Welihinda, Pushpa Costa and Delande Lazarus.

A tennis team participated in the local league for two seasons with noteworthy performances and a number of  players who spring to mind are Tissa Fernando, Jayantha Senanayake, M. Rasanayagam, Clifford Lazarus, Derek de Silva, Chaminda Munasinghe and Arthur Fernandez. 

(Clifford Lazarus – was in Oman from 1975 to 2014)