05/12/2025
🏉🇦🇪 Dubai Debrief 🇦🇪🏉
What a trip. Once again we had the best time both before and during the Emirates Dubai 7s tournament.
The squad was largely the same as last year, with a few key additions that gave us a real boost. The beauty of this group is how quickly everyone bonded, most of the lads already knew each other, so it felt like slipping straight back into family mode.
In the build-up we had our traditional “blow-out Wednesday,” where management, players and supporters all get together at O Beach Dubai for a day in the sun, enjoying the beach, the music and, most importantly, each other’s company. It’s always a brilliant way to create new memories and strengthen the team spirit.
On Thursday we invited our friends, the Ubuntu Warriors to join us for a joint session at the Dubai English Speaking College so we could run our set-piece moves against another team. It was hugely beneficial for both sides, and as always, a massive thanks to DESC for providing us with a pitch for the fifth year running, after training we joined The Worldwide Barefoot Project for a yacht trip then heading across town to Fibber Magee's - "Dubai's Best Kept Secret" where they kindly put on free food and drink for the entire group, a huge thank you to their manager Ross for his hospitality, very kind. The food and entertainment was incredible.
On to the tournament…
Game 1: RAMIT v Pie & Pilgrims
Typical—of all teams, they were staying in our hotel! Sadly the head chef refused our “offer” to sabotage them with dodgy food 😂, so we had to play them fair and square. We led 7–5 with 30 seconds left before they broke through to score in the corner, winning 12–7. Gutted doesn’t even cover it. But looking back, it gave us a wake up call and the mindset shift we needed.
We bounced back strongly and won our next two games comfortably scoring a combined total of 95 points in the 2 games, booking our place in the Cup quarter-final, where we beat a fiery French team—Frogs Legends 7–0.
Cup Semi- RAMIT v Airbus
Another French side, and unfortunately they were the better team on the day. They beat us 17–0, fair and square. The lads were devastated, there were a few tears shed and the whole squad felt the sting.
Naturally, there was only one solution… Kangaroo Court.
Everyone gets dragged in eventually, judged by His Honour Beefy409 and made to down a can of lager or cider, the amount was in line with the seriousness of their “crime.” A brilliant session which put smiles back on everyones faces, it was also a great chance to properly thank our title sponsor and CEO Lisa Foster of Blackbird Corporate Ltd, SharePoint Consultancy and Training Specialists with a signed RAMIT jersey for her office. We also presented our friend and supporter Adrian Birchall who kindly paid for our tournament entry with a signed Harlequins jersey and finally present our Gladiator of the tournament with their wooden sword, the honours this year fell to Josh Fowles who was on point from the 1st game to the last.
Afterwards we regrouped in the stadium as a squad to shake off the disappointment of the rugby, enjoy the atmosphere and watch the international 7s finals. As always, a highlight of the whole trip. The younger lads stayed for the main act, Fisher while the rest of us sensibly headed for food and bed!
Over the last two days we launched a JustGiving page with a QR code, hoping to raise a bit for charity and the outcome was unbelievable. Two people we’d only just met donated £1,000 each. One was a DJ/Music Producer Meer, who we were lucky enough to meet properly afterwards, and the other was a South African supporter who chose to stay anonymous. In total we raised £3,225, which is incredible. Thank you to everyone who donated—link below if you’d still like to help.
Conclusion:
The standard of the Dubai 7s rises every single year, and although we’re improving too, we’ve still got areas to sharpen up if we want to lift that trophy we’re chasing. We were too strong for the Plate, but just short of a Cup Final spot, finishing joint 3rd out of 24 teams. A huge achievement. Every player gave everything!
A massive thank you to our sponsors Corporate Knightsbridge Property Services Asco Space Planning Limited Woods Traditional Family Butchers Scared So What Ltd: Personal Change Managementi D3 tape UK. Mead Maintenance Services & Southdown Landscaping & Builders this wouldn’t be possible without you.
Roll on next year… planning starts after Christmas!
Sorry for the long post, if you made it this far, fair play and thank you. And if you skipped straight to the bottom… I don’t blame you! 😂😂
Our Charity partners Teac Tom & ManGang UK
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ramit-rugby-dubai-7s?utm_medium=CF&utm_source=CL
