Bahrain advanced to the cup stage on day one of the two-day Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy in Doha, Qatar, after winning one game and drawing a second in the 16-team competition.
They started the tournament with a comprehensive 22-5 win over a battling Iran team with Jack Phillips starring with three tries. Greg Heath also chipped in with a try of his own.
The victory took Bahrain into the cup stage, where they are grouped with India, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan – whom they faced in their second game of the day.
A combative Uzbekistan team looked like they were going to get the better of Bahrain until the Reds came back from the brink with three timely tries to draw the game 19-19.
An unbeaten, two-game run on the first day means that Bahrain are still in the competition but they will come up against tough opposition in the form of India and Afghanistan today.
“It was really important that we fought back and rescued a draw in the second match,” Bahrain Rugby Federation’s director of rugby Rory Drummond told the GDN.
“This keeps us in the hunt but we have two huge games today.
“As an unranked side competing in our first Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy, we have already surprised a few people and hope to continue that today.”
This is only the second international tournament for the Bahrain team, coming on the heels of a memorable first international outing just last month when the Reds won the Jordan Sevens tournament in Amman.
The Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy serves as a qualification tournament for the 2024 Asia Rugby Seven Series.
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