Under 16 Girls’ rugby made its debut at the 2023 Emirates Dubai 7s‘ Youth Sport Festival on Friday evening.

Teams from rugby clubs across the UAE arrived at The Sevens Stadium to take part in the inaugural Under 16 Girls competition which kicked off across four of the famous Emirates Dubai 7s tournament pitches at a precise 5:44 pm.

A shrill blast of a referee’s whistle signalled the start of twelve high-octane matches. Each one of them overflowing with exciting and electrifying rugby.

Three rounds of pool games were played through the course of the evening. When the whistles of four referees signalled the close of Round 1, Abu Dhabi French, Dubai Exiles, and the Dubai Hurricanes had all got off to winning starts. The Dubai Sharks played out a 20 – 20 thriller of a draw on Pitch 5.

The pick of Round 2 was the match on Pitch 3 between Dubai Hurricanes 2 and the Dubai Exiles. After 14 minutes of non-stop drama and excitement between the two Sevens Stadium based clubs it was the Exiles that pipped Hurricanes 2 at the final whistle, getting their noses over the finish line by 15 points to 14.

The excitement continued in Round 3, the third and final round of games of the evening. Abu Dhabi French cemented their place at the top of Pool B with a 22 – 5 win over the Exiles.

The Dubai Sharks and Hurricanes 1 played out a cracker on Pitch 6. Hurricanes 1 confirmed their spot at the top of Pool A finishing with a narrow 10 – 5 win over the impressive Sharks.

You can check out the results from all of the action of the Girls Under 16 tournament at https://youthsportfestival.com/rugby-under-16-girls/.

We’ll be back at The Sevens Stadium for the knock-out rounds, beginning with the quarter-finals, at 5:44 pm on October 27th.

It’s going to be another thrilling evening of Girls Under 16 rugby at the 2023 Emirates Dubai 7s – Youth Sport Festival!