There was much talk in the lead up to this international rugby weekend about the ethics of providing help for struggling rugby unions from the Pacific.
England’s players, most notably, opted out of sharing any of their Test match fees with their Samoan counterparts, reasoning that they wanted to avoid accusations of collusion further down the line.
Meanwhile, in Dubai two of the city’s amateur rugby clubs did their best to help out the Fiji Airways Men’s 7s team ahead of next weekend’s Dubai 7s.
The national side had arrived in Dubai early, hoping to acclimatise and train before the serious business starts next week.
The Dubai Sports City Eagles provided free use of their pitch to the Fiji 7s team while Jebel Ali Dragons managed to arrange accommodation at Bonnington Tower in JLT at short notice, as well as use of Base 3 gym facilities.
As a token of appreciation, the teams were granted game time against the Fiji 7s team which they described as a mixed blessing.
This morning we had the pleasure to welcome the @fijirugby team to our home, the #Bonnington. They are coming to Dubai for the Emirates Airline Rugby Sevens. We hope you guys get a great stay with everything you need to get in the right mode for the tournament. pic.twitter.com/9iCQIplMw7
— Bonnington Hotel (@bonningtontower) November 23, 2017
Fiji beat the Dragons nine tries to two in the three quarters they played, and three tries to nil against the Eagles.
It will be the first Dubai 7s overseen by coach Gareth Baber.
Fiji will take on Russia at 7.06pm next Friday in their first game, they will then face Wales at 10.06pm Friday before facing Australia at 4.06am next Saturday in their last pool match.
Our @FijiAirways Men's 7s team enjoying their recovery following a very long flight @bonningtontower #TosoVitiToso #FlyLikeAFijian #HSBC7s pic.twitter.com/TWADc3YqUs
— Fiji Rugby (@fijirugby) November 23, 2017
Source: thenational.ae
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