The United Arab Emirates Rugby Federation became the first union formed following the disbantion of the Arabian Gulf team, and in 2011, they were granted membership into the Asian Rugby Football Union (now Asia Rugby) and, following a successful bid, were granted full membership in World Rugby in November 2012.[2][3]
History
Early Roots
Long term historical background shows that rugby’s beginnings in the middle east, on the desert sand pitches for which it is famed, stretch as far back to the mid 1900s, when the British military personnel played against expatriate employees of the Kuwait Oil Company.[4] Most informal matches were played on makeshift pitches—often on sand or grassless fields.
In 1974, expatriate representatives from the rugby clubs in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, joined together to form a union called the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU), which started to grow the game in the region.[5] It's primary focus was to build an infrastructure and develop the game across the region, developing players, coaches and officials.
It was during this period the now famous Dubai Sevens was founded and became the nations flagship rugby event.[6]
2010–2018: Building UAE Rugby
By 2010, the AGRFU was dissolved, allowing the individual countries to take full control of their rugby development to allow for focused growth of the game in each country.
Founded in 2010, the then UAE Rugby Association, was responsible for developing and growing the game in the United Arab Emirates and was awarded full membership status of the Asian Rugby Football Union in June 2011. By October 2012, the local government of youth and sorts upgraded the organisation to the UAE Rugby Federation after it showed its commitment in developing and growing the game in the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE's first test match was on 23 April 2011 against Sri Lanka as part of the 2011 Asian Five Nations, which ended in a 13–all draw.[7] A week later, the UAE earned their first win, defeating Kazakhstan 24–10 in Abu Dhabi.[8]
After a competitive inaugural appearance in the Asian Five Nations competition, the UAE were included in the inaugural World Rugby Cup of Nations competition, where they joined other developing rugby nations Brazil, Hong Kong and Kenya in a round-robin tournament held in Dubai.[9]
By November 2012, the UAE Rugby Federation was awarded full membership status by World Rugby, the highest recognition that a Union could be awarded, which allowed the side to be part of the 2015 Rugby World Cup Asia qualification process which commenced in April 2013.[10] In their first attempt of World Cup qualification, the UAE were eliminated in their first round, losing all their matches during the 2013 Asian Five Nations to see them also relegated from the top flight Asian competition for 2014.
By 2015, the UAE has slipped into the second division of Asian Rugby (in effect the third tier in Asia), where they remained for two seasons.[11] But despite being promoted back to Division 1 for 2017,[12] they were later relegated back to Division 2 for 2018, and thus ending their chances of qualification for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
2018–onwards: Growth of Asian rugby
The side failed to compete in 2018, and returned back to competitive rugby ahead of the 2019 season, where they won the second division and was promoted for 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UAE didn't play a game until 2023, where they then defeated Pakistan 188–3 on aggregate to return to the top flight championship for 2024.[13]
In returning to the Asian Rugby Championship for 2024, the UAE reignited their chances for World Cup qualification in 2027. With an expanded competition for the 2027 event, the qualification process granted Asia a direct spot into the World Cup along side the already qualified Japan. This encouraged further development for the UAE, and after finishing in second in the 2024 Asia Rugby Championship, World Rugby stepped in to facilitate international test matches during the 2024 November international window.[14]
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13–13 
UAE 
0–95 
Japan 
