DUBAI // Less than five years after first being introduced to rugby at a taster session at school, Majid Al Balooshi is set for his international debut for the UAE.
The 21-year-old wing has been named in the national squad for the Asia Rugby Championship Division 1 in Malaysia, starting on Sunday.
He has been elevated to the first team having impressed with Shaheen, the development side from the third-tier of domestic rugby set up specifically to give Emirati players a chance in the 15-a-side game.
Al Balooshi only took up the game in 2012, when a one-off class was given during a PE lesson at his school – Al Maarif in Dubai – via the Princess Haya Initiative.
He immediately took to it. He gave up playing football, watched hours of rugby on YouTube and Fox Sports, and bought himself a mouthguard.
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Within weeks he had the UAE rugby crest on his shirt, as he was picked to play for the Shaheen in a tournament exclusively involving native Arabs from the Gulf region.
“It was the best feeling I have had in my life when I got to wear the national team shirt,” Al Balooshi said after playing his first match back then. “When I am wearing this shirt, I never ever want to lose any game.”
That sentiment has been magnified now, four-and-a-half years later, the prospect of playing a full international Test match for his country is coming closer.
“I haven’t got the words to describe how I feel, I can’t express how it feels to play in the first team,” Al Balooshi said ahead of the trip to Malaysia.
“I come every day for training, and I love rugby. It is a nice game. I worked more in the gym to get my body ready for the game.
“They told me I should come to train because I had an ability for rugby. I did that, every day, and, Alhamdulillah, I have now made it to the first team.”
Al Balooshi’s promotion is another landmark moment for the UAE Rugby Federation, given he has been developed entirely on their watch.
The majority of rugby players who have made it to Test level to date, such as Cyrus Homayoun, Hareb Al Azri and Ali Mohammed, either learnt their rugby while studying abroad or from expatriate friends.
Hassan Al Noobi, the first Emirati Test try scorer, and Mohammed Hassan, meanwhile, first learnt the game before the UAERF was created in 2011.
Apollo Perelini, the UAE coach, believes Al Balooshi can be a flag-bearer for emerging Emirati players in this country.
“Mayood has been tremendous,” said Perelini, who has also overseen the Shaheen side in the UAE Community League over the past two seasons.
“He is so coachable, he is a boy that just wants to learn. He is a massive representative for the UAE’s group of Emirati boys that are coming through.
“If we can have more and more of those boys coming through, we will be really, really happy.”
Asia Rugby Championship Division 1, Malaysia
■ Sunday, May 14 – Sri Lanka v Philippines, Malaysia v UAE
■ Wednesday, May 17 – Sri Lanka v UAE, Malaysia v Philippines
■ Saturday, May 20 – UAE v Philippines, Malaysia v Sri Lanka
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