By Seraj Essul.
Tripoli, 6 July 2013:
A Tripoli rugby squad today scored a convincing win over a scratch team from the British . . .[restrict]Royal Navy in an evening match played at TripoliSport City.
The foundations for the final 43-17 scoreline were laid in the first quarter of the match, when the Libyan players stormed away to put 24 points on the board while the British failed to open their account.
The second quarter (the match was broken up in deference to the evening heat) was evenly matched with neither side managing to score. However, thereafter, though the Royal Naval team managed to notch up 17 points, the game continued to go the way of the way of the Libyans.
The majority of the British team was made up of members of HMS Echo, a hydrographic survey vessel which has been working with the Libyan navy for the past fortnight.
Tarek Benrewin a member of Libya’s rugby committee told the Libya Herald : “We train hard, three times a week.”
The captain of HMS Echo, Commander Matt Syrett, pointed out with a smile, that his players were a scratch team who lived and worked on a 90 metre vessel, on which they could only run around 45 metres. The British spectators acknowledged that the Libyan players were generally faster and fitter and there was admiration for their aggression and determination.
Benrewin said that Tripoli was scheduled to have two games against Benghazi in preparation for taking part in October’s North Africa League which will be staged in Egypt with teams from Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia.
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