Saudi Arabia

At a tournament funded by a company with a $2.43 trillion market cap, rugby was showcased to a crowd of 6,000 in Saudi Arabia. They’ve also relaunched their rugby federation and put a sevens side into the Arab Games for the first time. In a country that divides opinion, so often going big on the sporting front, rugby is quietly taking some small steps in development.

A conflict in a foreign land, a surge in energy prices and a cost of living crisis. Welcome to 1973. America had announced that it would provide military support to Israel during the Israeli conflict with Egypt and Syria, known as the Yom Kippur War. So, the Arab states decided they needed to act and realised they had the world over a barrel … of oil. A six-month trade embargo was imposed, led by Saudi Arabia, causing the price of oil to increase by 350 per cent.

The balance of power in global politics and trade changed overnight. Saudi was now a major player on the world stage. 

Commentators and analysts have recently looked back at the oil crisis of 1973 when trying to make sense of events in 2022, but also to predict what may follow.

‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but often it rhymes,’ is a quote attributed to Mark Twain. Although there are obvious differences between now and then, nations are looking at how to reduce their reliance on Russian oil and gas, and much the same happened in the wake of the oil crisis.

You may be thinking, ‘okay, what does any of this have to do with rugby?’.

In 2016, a strategy known as Saudi Vision 2030 was unveiled by Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman. In a nutshell, it is about making the country less reliant on oil – which represents 90 per cent of its revenue – as consumers and countries turn to renewables, and to diversify into new sectors and industries, including tourism, entertainment and sport.

You can already see this happening with the Saudi Arabia F1 Grand Prix, the Saudi Cup (the world’s richest horse race), the recent launch of the LIV Golf League and even plans to host a rematch of the Anthony Joshua-Olexsander Usyk fight. 

Another key target is 2034 when Saudi Arabia will host the Asian Games – the world’s second-biggest multi-sports event after the Olympics. Rugby sevens has featured in every Games since 1998, but Saudi Arabia’s only appearance in that event came in 2014, finishing twelfth out of twelve teams.

Meanwhile, the fifteens have never been a fixture on the international schedule. That is all about to change.

Rugby was first introduced here by the expats who came from around the world to work in Saudi after World War Two. The country lacked engineers, administrative staff, technical expertise and general know-how to manage the rapid expansion of the oil industry after a drill first struck black gold in 1938. 

Expat communities were formed, international schools were built, and teams such as the Riyadh Rugby Club were founded. Outside of those communities, rugby is a fringe sport.

Last year, however, a $700m plan was announced to make the country competitive in all the medal events at the Asian Games and beyond, and this forms part of Saudi Vision 2030. The number of national sports federations had increased from 32 in 2015, to 91 by 2021.

Also last year, the Saudi Arabia Rugby Federation (SARF) was relaunched. Amal Algrafi became its new CEO in September.

Amal’s previous role was as CEO of the National Lacrosse Federation and she has been a member of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic committee. It was at a lacrosse event where she met SARF president Ali Aldajani, who said appointing her was a ‘no brainer’.

Her track record is built around youth-orientated projects and organisations, often with a brief to improve participation. Now, she joins at a point where there appears to be a genuine desire to grow and diversify participation in rugby. “In 2019, the new federation was established, which meant the old union that was formed in 1998 was dissolved,” Amal tells the Rugby Journal. “The federation is both mature and young, at the same time. We have 400 members who are mostly expats, but to us that also means experts who come from the homelands of the sport.

“The federation was activated in 2021,” explains Amal. “By ‘activated’ I mean that we’ve established a name and a strategy for how we envision ourselves in two years, four years, eight years... 

“And it’s linked to Vision 2030, which is a very diverse and extensive country-wide vision. We want to work with parents and children,” she continues. “We want to create regional and local partnerships. We have to look after how we develop the sport efficiently, which means having coaches, programmes, grassroots, working with colleges and schools. It’s a lifelong plan. 

“We have four main pillars for our strategy: grow the sport and get as much visibility; enrich our influence and become part of Saudi youth culture; create excellence and create opportunities for players to progress. For example, we have to look at incentives for children. If I’m fifteen years old what is the sport going to facilitate for me in terms of opportunities and education?”

The fourth pillar is to grow a community around rugby. “I’ve got so many ideas about what we can do with the game,” says Amal. “But I also see so much of the culture of rugby in our culture – the sense of brotherhood. Whatever happens on the field, there is a bond between the players off the field, which I think is something that is beautiful.”

Certainly, SARF makes all the right noises, but how does that translate into tangible progress? One of the first steps was for SARF to enter a national team for the Arab Rugby Sevens tournament in Tunisia earlier this year. The last time a Saudi team appeared in that event was at the inaugural tournament in 2015. 

It was something of a spur of the moment decision to go to Tunisia but proved to be hugely informative and would give everybody involved a chance to see where the team are in the scheme of things.

Matthew Williams was swiftly drafted in as team coach, having moved to Saudi in 2021, to run a major sports event.  At one point, Matthew looked destined to have a successful playing career, following in his father Chris’s footsteps. A Bristol legend, Williams senior was named as one of the club’s top 100 most important players.

Matthew’s mother was a head of PE at Clifton School in Bristol. Their son was almost genetically designed to be good at sports. He went to Hartpury College and represented England in swimming before focusing solely on rugby and playing for his country at U16s, U18s and U19s. When he didn’t make the cut for the under-21s, Matthew discovered a family connection to Ireland and became their most capped player at the World U21 Championships in 2006 as part of a squad that featured Johnny Sexton, Sean O’Brien and Sean Cronin. He was also one of the early products of the academy system but failed to step up into the first team at Bristol.

“That was one of the hardest things I ever had to deal with,” he says. “There was this huge part of me that wanted to run out and play for Bristol especially with my dad having achieved so much there. 

“I didn’t get a contract because I wasn’t good enough,” he says, succinctly, “so, there’s no angst about it.

“And at that point, there wasn’t really much in place for young players like me. Dylan Hartley was the same age and talks about this in his book, about that first wave of academy players being guinea pigs.”

Instead, he dusted himself down and started all over again as a coach. “The academies seemed overstretched to me,” he continues. “And actually, there are a lot of players that need one-to-one tuition. I set up MJW Coaching, which has produced internationals, 23 Premiership-contracted players, and players across England’s development teams, including Beck Cutting (Worcester), Alex Hunt (Wasps), Ben Pogson (Wasps) and Alex Wills (Worcester).”

From there he started racking up stamps in his passport, with coaching roles in more than half a dozen countries. Before moving to Saudi Arabia, Matthew was director of rugby in the Bahamas. On the face of it, that sounds like a great gig. However, Covid meant there wasn’t any rugby to direct and he was operating with a shoestring budget.

Then he was approached by Aramco to become tournament director for a ‘Community Olympics’ event in Ras Tanura, a city and oil refinery in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia that looks out over the Persian Gulf. 

Aramco was the first major oil company to be founded in Saudi Arabia. Initially, it was a joint venture with America, hence the name, but the Yom Kippur War and the events of 1974 prompted the Saudi government to purchase a 25 per cent stake in Aramco’s assets. The company became wholly owned by the state in 1976.

Its current market cap is $2.43 trillion and it has just toppled Apple Inc to be ranked as the world’s richest company.

Matthew ended up delivering a tournament that had 5,000 participants across eighteen events, including touch rugby. “I wanted to expand my skill set which is why I took on the role,” says Matthew. “But rugby is part of my DNA. It was suggested to me that I should try touch rugby at the Aramco tournament and we showcased it at the opening ceremony in front of 6,000 people.”

Both Matthew and SARF see touch rugby as the obvious entry point for kids in Saudi. Developing the sevens team is likely to take priority, or at least happen a lot quicker, than the fifteen-a-side game. 

“The tournament in Tunisia was an eye-opening experience for me because I started to realise how much work there is to be done. But then the other way to look at it is that there is a huge opportunity to grow the game.”

For one of Saudi’s sevens team, Abdul Alothman, it was a chance to see how other teams prepare for games but also to work with an experienced coach.

Alothman was born in Saudi, moved to the UK, has played with teams across the country and currently trains with Rams in Reading.  “Both me and my brother got called up into the team,” he says. “It was a surreal moment. I was back in Saudi to see my parents and, while I was there, I was also training with Riyadh Rugby. Some of the players know Ali at SARF and they recommended me. Saudi isn’t even a tier two rugby nation – currently there are only six teams as such – but it’s still a privilege to play for the country in which you were born. 

“We only had a week to prepare for the Arab Rugby Sevens in Tunisia whereas other teams had a month and our first game was against the host nation who also ended up winning the tournament,” explains Abdul. “So, yeah, we were in at the deep end, and we were nervous. And we lost 52-0. But, actually, it was the best thing that could have happened. 

“It was a proper wake-up call.” 

Saudi went on to suffer a narrow defeat to Syria (17-12) and keep the margin of the defeat respectable against 2021 champions Egypt (15-0). “We spoke after the tournament and said what we have right now provides a foundation to build on,” continues Abdul. “But we need to look at what works in other countries. 

“There is a lot of talent in Saudi but they see rugby as too physical. So, we also need to look at people who come from what you may describe as tougher backgrounds. Maybe rugby won’t be big within the next three years but maybe it could be in five or ten years.”

This is a young country both in terms of its history and demographics. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was formed in 1932. Today, around 75 per cent of Saudi nationals are aged 35 and under. This equates to 15 million people, give or take, with 3.3 million kids attending primary schools. To give that some context, there are 4.8 million primary school pupils in the UK, which has a population almost twice the size of Saudi Arabia, albeit Saudi is nine times bigger in terms of area.

“Rugby needs to be a part of the country’s curriculum because then the infrastructure is in place to be able to develop it,” says Matthew. “If it’s a recreational hobby on the side, it’s very hard to create that element of growth.”

To begin, SARF is focusing on a city on the banks of the Red Sea to create the next generation. “Our player profile comes from Yanbu, an industrial area,” says Ali. “A lot of the guys are not in the same income status as Riyadh or Jeddah. 

“The majority of our Saudi national team comes from (Yanbu) and they are looking for sports that have, say, a bit more grit.”

“So having a rugby grassroots programme in Yanbu would be fantastic. But we are also looking at the international schools.”

Amal likens Yanbu to Coventry, although perhaps Hull would be more apt given it is a port. Therefore, Riyadh and Jeddah could be classed as the Saudi equivalents of London and Manchester.

The obvious other challenge is climate. May 2021 saw the highest average temperature for that month in 30 years. Matthew says that at the height of summer it can get so hot that the rubber on the 3G pitch can melt. And then, of course, there is an issue that is far from unique, which is the popularity of football. It will be the only game in town this winter as Saudi Arabia qualified for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, although the success of the ‘Green Falcons’ shows that the country can produce a successful national team in a mainstream sport.

Where rugby is concerned, UAE provides the blueprint for Saudi. The capital, Dubai, hosts the HSBC World Rugby Sevens at The Sevens Stadium – a multi-use venue that was originally purpose-built to host rugby.

The UAE Rugby Federation was founded in 2009. In 2011, the Player Pathway Program was launched to encourage more kids to take up the sport and in 2018 rugby was added to the school curriculum.

Amal also reveals that SARF is “working on a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federation of Emirates to develop excellence in coaching training programmes and sharing resources in terms of doing camps with the children with schools both here and there.”

While he was in Tunisia, Matthew spoke to ex-Sale and Samoa flanker Apollo Perelini, now rugby performance director for UAE. “We had a really good chat about rugby development,” he says. “In the UK there is now a pathway for girls from schools into academies. Back in the day you would expect to lose female players in their late 20s because they may want to start a family or further their career. Saudi and Dubai are very different. You will only have these girls until their early twenties because they are likely to get married and that will spell the end of their time in rugby.

“And you have to understand as much as this country is going through all these changes, there are traditions that are maintained.”

There is one significant difference between Saudi and UAE. 

The UAE has a population of ten million, 89 per cent of which is made up of expats, whereas in Saudi they represent around a third of the population. 

UAE uses the World Rugby rule whereby somebody can live in a country for five years and play for its national team. Saudi employs no such rule but does have a generation of young, wealthy people who have grown up in a very different environment from their parents. They have travelled the world, experienced different cultures, and embraced technology. 

And it is a country that is belatedly opening up opportunities for women – it was only in 2018 that women were legally allowed to drive.

Matthew says that the only way to understand Saudi is to spend time there, meet the people and understand the culture. “I feel that when any of my friends come to visit me from the UK, their parents are automatically worried,” he says. “If you’re a female you couldn’t be in a safer country. Because it would be uncalled for here for a man to approach a woman in the street, and ask for their name, their number, or to skulk around them. I can only speak as I find. 

“I’m also very fortunate within my role for Aramco to travel around Saudi. You will see extraordinary things like a 60-70ft high sand drift in the middle of the desert with six different colour variations.

“It’s just an amazing, beautiful country, where the only people that I have met have been welcoming and open and I’m working for an organisation that is successful but steeped in tradition. 

“That’s not trying to hide away from some of the challenges that happen in a lot of countries, with young girls getting married to older men and all of those things. I’ve worked around the world and no country, in my opinion, is whiter than white.”

This is a country that polarises opinions. The aforementioned Saudi- backed LIV Golf League has caused divisions within the sport. While Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm have openly spoken out against it, in May it was announced that the league would start as an eight-tournament event, including one tournament hosted in Jeddah. It will be expanded to 14 events by 2024, backed by $2 billion from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which invests funds on behalf of the Saudi government.

Phil Mickelson was the highest profile early supporter of the league. Then a quote from a new biography about Mickelson appeared, in which he said Saudi Arabia has a “horrible record on human rights”, adding that, “They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape how the PGA Tour operates.”

The takeover of Newcastle United FC was somehow legitimised by the fact it is owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, rather than the Saudi government itself, which the Premier League would have blocked. This is all a bit, ‘you say tomato…’, given all the key figures in the PIF are members of the government.

Both the Newcastle takeover and the golf league have prompted accusations of ‘sportwashing’ and using sport to create a better image for a country that also led a military intervention into neighbouring Yemen’s civil war – a move that arguably made the situation worse, and Yemen is in the grip of a humanitarian crisis.

All of this will make some people feel uneasy about the country gaining a foothold in rugby.

Then again, the UK has made billions from selling arms to Saudi Arabia. In the 1980s, the arms trade helped to prop up the UK economy at a time of mass unemployment and soaring inflation. “Misconceptions (about Saudi) change over time, and things change frequently,” says Ali Aldajani. “You know, I think there’s a lot of progression happening, both structurally and socially. 

“The next generation is very different from the last generation,” he continues. “When I was looking for a CEO at the time, it honestly didn’t cross my mind at all whether I should have a male CEO or a female CEO. The same thing goes for my board members. The first board member that I selected was also a female.

“The Saudis in general, are very ambitious people,” explains Ali. “And they like to do things the best. I feel like that’s a really good base to have when it comes to sports. You know, you have mega projects like NEOM, which wants to include sports as part of its vision.”

NEOM has been touted as the $500 billion sustainable city of the future. As a semi-independent free zone is it likely to be a tourist destination without the restrictions on alcohol that exist in Saudi.  

“I have no doubt that a lot of these projects will succeed and provide great opportunities not only for Saudi athletes, but for anyone who comes to compete here professionally,” concludes Ali. “We’re in the middle of this period of expansion, and you can see it happening around you. I am looking forward to seeing what comes next.” 

Story by Ryan Herman

Pictures by Asia Rugby and Arab Rugby

This extract was taken from issue 18 of Rugby.
To order the print journal, click here.