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Whatever happened to Lebanon?

Roar Guru
2nd December, 2014
36

It has been an agonising and heartbreaking 15 years since a makeshift team of Lebanese heritage players from Sydney were accepted as part of 2000 Rugby League World Cup.

The minnow of all minnows, Lebanon fought valiantly in that tournament. Despite a drubbing by superpower New Zealand, the team went down by two points to Wales and earned a solid draw against the Cook Islands.

Since then, the Lebanese have established a proper amateur domestic competition built around its universities. However, two World Cups later, they have yet to taste the heady heights of tournament participation.

The nation has the unenviable record of never having re-qualified for rugby league’s greatest international event despite only losing one match in two qualifying campaigns.

Two draws against Ireland, one against Italy and a single loss to current world number four, Samoa, were the nation’s only low points in what had otherwise been a very positive presence during that time.

Lebanese optimism was up with victories last year over the Fijians in the Hayne-Mannah Cup. The team was in full preparation for the 2017 World Cup.

Since then, a few hiccups have hit the Lebanese as the domestic competition struggles with the economical and political effects of the Syrian War and a country operating without an effective government.

From a high of a top 10 ranking, the Cedars, Lebanon’s national team, has seen its position drop steadily to its current low of 21. In international rugby league, anything outside of 10 is, to put it mildly, concerning.

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This year, the Rugby League International Federation sanctioned the Hayne-Mannah Cup as an official international Test match between Fiji and Lebanon. As in 2013, the cup featured three matches – Under-16s, Under-20s and open. Fiji got their revenge for last year’s three game whitewash, defeating Lebanon in all three grades.

While the national side has hit a few hurdles, spare a thought for the domestic competition. The rebranded Lebanese Rugby League Championship (LRLC) saw a 2013-14 season disrupted by bombings as national and regional instability wrecked havoc on the country.

Despite the intense surroundings, the season went ahead, culminating in a grand final victory to the Jounieh al-Galacticos, whose captain, Raymond Sabat, scored an amazing five tries in the last 20 minutes to completely overwhelm minor premiers Immortals RLFC.

The resilience of the competition – and the people involved – has continued into season 2014-15. Though Redbacks RLFC were forced to withdraw, its players will turn out for the Wolves RLFC in a revamped four-team competition, which is currently underway.

The Bank of Beirut is still the competition’s major sponsor. The second-tiered College Rugby League (CRL) provides seven competing university teams and the Schools Rugby League (SRL) competition is fielding 16 teams in the nation’s third-tiered comp.

The Lebanese Rugby League Federation chief executive Remond Safi conceded that last year’s season was a difficult one, admitting that it would require a lot of hard work to complete the current season while the regional problems persists.

With all of the turmoil, stress and difficulties facing the country, one could be forgiven for deciding to call it a day on rugby league and move on to something a bit easier. Doing so, however, would ignore one of sport’s most fundamental strengths, and that is its ability to unite otherwise disparate groups of people. And as many Lebanese would freely admit, a bit of unity can never hurt.

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Lebanese rugby league is far from finished. Like their namesake, the Cedars, Lebanese rugby league roots are deepening. They’ll be back.

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