Lebanese rugby league approaches the festive season eagerly anticipating the election of its new Board on 21 December. Officials have held constructive meetings with the Ministry of Youth and Sport following a period of unrest which delayed the election by a month.
Despite this, there has been no pause on the field, where the Collegiate Rugby League first division has reached the halfway point, with defending champions the University of Balamand tucked in second behind Notre Dame de Louaize. The two front-runners’ round 2 match is currently in the hands of the LRLF judiciary following a dispute surrounding the result of the match. AUB currently sit in the final play-off position, two points ahead of LAU.
CRL Tournament Director Sleiman Mokdad said: “The CRL Championship kicked off with an exciting five team competition, following the promotion of BAU after winning the 2017/18 CRL Division 2 Championship. This year we’ve expanded the top division championship, and developed a strategy to increase teams in Division 2 by giving more preparation and a CRL 9s circuit to engage smaller teams and boost participation.
We’ve also acquired a new facility in Amchit thanks to the work of the LRLF Board and it’s been an ideal location to host matches, as our championship involves teams from Beirut and the North.
It’s exciting to see so many new and young players trying out and rugby league and adopting it as their sport of choice, and I’m looking forward to the commencement of the D2 Championship next year.”
At the weekend, seven collegiate teams participated in the first of three scheduled 9s tournaments, hosted by AUB, UOB and, in this case, LAU, at the Arena Ventus stadium. UOB won the final 14-4 against NDU’s first team, with Lebanese International University taking third spot.
LAU Tournament Director Nayef Abi Said said: “It was a great event seeing so many young athletes of different levels, with some playing their first games about three months ago and others having played for 6-7 years. As Lebanese American University we feel so proud organizing the inaugural tournament of the CRL Nines Series and we are looking forward to attract more colleges programs both male and female in future events. Personally I would like to thank LAU Director of Athletics Mr. Sami Garabedian and the Athletics Department for their support and help organizing this event.”
Winning coach Darwich Darwich said: “The tournament was tough, especially under the cold weather, but every team came out to help make it a success. Now we will go on to the next one and hope for the same atmosphere.”
In other news, CRL Division 2 is scheduled to begin in January along with two Schools Rugby League divisions, in the north and Mount Lebanon, while the sports ministry has declared Tripoli the 2017-18 Lebanese champions following a disrupted season.
