Blooming in hostile territories

A few years ago, they used to cut off the hands of petty thieves and execute criminals at the dusty, pebble-strewn National Stadium in Kabul. Today those killing fields have turned into a field of dreams for aspiring rugby players in war-torn Afghanistan, a band of whom on Friday had their first taste of international rugby in Dubai.

Five months ago, as military helicopters droned above, Aziz Ahmed and a small group of pioneers concentrated on the task at hand, passing a rugby ball, and tried to forget a grim past when the Taliban ruled the country by fear. The game of rugby was an ideal outlet to vent their feelings.

Those dismal days seemed a distant memory for Aziz, scrum-half of the pioneering Afghanistan national team, which ran out to play the United Arab Emirates Shaheen - themselves a developing side of Emirati nationals - in a three-match seven-a-side series, the final one being the curtain-raiser to the Hong Kong v UAE Top Five encounter in the HSBC Asian Five Nations.

'We are honoured to play for Afghanistan and, Inshallah [God willing], we will win and make our country proud. We have improved a lot in recent months but we know we still have much to learn about this game. But we will play our best, work hard and see what happens,' Aziz said before the historic moment for his country.

From just three players late last year, Afghanistan rugby has started to blossom like the desert flowers which push through the country's arid soil after every rain shower. Today, there are more than 200 players, mostly based in the capital. Aziz and nine others were the lucky ones, chosen by the fledgling Afghanistan Rugby Federation (ARF) to represent the country for the first time.

'On day one we had three players, on day two we had seven and then on the third day 15 players showed up. It really grew as it went on and the game is now developing a life of its own, especially in Kabul,' says ARF technical adviser Steve Brooking.