Bahrain Rugby Football Club’s (RFC) first XV gave their delighted home fans something to shout about yesterday as they ran in eight tries past Muscat in a comprehensive 55-5 victory in Saar.
A hat-trick from Toby Borrow, filling the unfamiliar number eight shirt in his first outing of the season, and further tries from Oli Luke, Adam Wallace, Dave Moore, Henry Frost and Luke Radley did the damage, with the impressive Radley also contributing 15 points with the boot.
There was a welcome calmness to the Bahrain side in the all-important opening quarter as Radley happily slotted an early penalty opportunity before former Leinster and Harlequins man Moore played a deft chip for full-back Luke to race in for the opening try.
Radley missed the conversion attempt but Borrow gave him a chance to make amends as the back-rower touched down under the posts soon after.
Skipper Wallace then broke through a couple of tackles before popping to the supporting Borrow for his second try, which was converted by Radley to make it 22-0 at half-time.
In such a commanding position at the break, Bahrain could have been forgiven for letting the foot off the pedal in the second period but Borrow was certainly in no mood to slow down as he powered over from the base of the scrum to complete his hat-trick and secure the four-try bonus point.
Crossed
Wallace was next in on the act as he crossed in the corner before his new centre partner Moore touched down for his first try in Bahrain colours after a good burst by Kern Wales.
With the result confirmed, Muscat did manage to grab a consolation try in the corner but normal service soon resumed as substitute Henry Frost scorched over for his second try in as many games.
Radley was wide with the difficult extras but fittingly, it was he who rounded out the day’s scoring as he danced his way through the Muscat defence for one of the tries of the day, which he duly converted.
Next up for Bahrain is another trip to Qatar and the first real test of this new look team against old rivals and last season’s Gulf Top Six runners-up Doha.
The corresponding fixture last year was something of a harrowing experience for the Bahrain team and they will certainly be hoping to make up for that this time round.