Rakan runs riot against the Lions in Qatar Rugby 7s

3/28/2016 4:12:16 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Rakan Mutawaa receives the Copthorne Hotel Man-of-the-Match award from Qatar Rugby Federation President Yousef Al Kuwari and General Secretary Ali Al Malki on Sunday night.

Doha: Rakan Mutawaa has once again proved his worth as a national rugby representative by single handedly serving the Lions a blow out in the seventh round of the Qatar Rugby Sevens on Saturday night at the Aspire Warm up and purpose built rugby track.

The Lions started with a great roar leading 7 nil in the opening minutes and it looked like they were going to stretch that lead further before Mubarak Al Malik threw it wide to Mutawaa who jumped over one defender and ran through another to score underneath the black dot. The converted try leveled the score at 7-7.

In the next few minutes the game settled as both teams faced each other off set after set but it was the strong Lions outfit with flawless execution who managed to post their second converted try seconds from half time to take the lead 14-7.

The second half had no longer had started when half Omer Bahamed pounced on a loose ball and sent it to a waiting Mutawaa who sped away for his second try narrowing the score 14-12.

Shortly after the Camels were remarkable in the set pattern as they etched meters from the Lions try line. A loose ball had players all scrambling before Mutawaa took control and used his 86 kilogram frame to barge over for his hat-trick giving the Camels (2) the lead for the first time 19-14.

The Lions in their desperation lost grip of the match throwing impossible passes and made too many forced errors.

Lions had their chances but when Maciej Lenartowicz drew his man and hit Mutawaa with a magic pass to score his fourth try for the evening it

was all over for the roaring Lions. The final score Camels (2) 24 – Lions 14. Sudam Parinda and Andrew Jansen were outstanding for the Lions.

Speaking to the media the Qatari powerhouse and man-of-the-match Mutawaa credited his success to his team mates.

“I just love to play rugby whether it’s for my team or my country. My team mates really inspire my drive. I may have scored the tries but it was my team mates who gave me the ball and put me in that opportunity. I just did the running and scoring”.

Mutawaa also praised the Lions saying “What a fantastic effort by the Lions. They gave us a scare early on and we were rocked. Their big men played hard fast wide and were brilliant with the ball. Luckily for us they made the mistakes we were waiting for and we took advantage of that”.

In the other matches played the Hurricanes downed the Blue Falcons 68 nil. Lions had back to back victories beating CNAQ 19-12 and easily overcoming the Blue Falcons 31 nil.

The Camels (1) had a 35 point walk over win over Al Khor. Next week all seven teams return to Aspire for the eighth round of the championship while the semis and finals will be played on April 9.The Peninsula

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