Muscat Rugby Club: MRFC

The Muscat Rugby Club has a long history here. Way back when things were more relaxed, the Rugby Club was an institution. The club house used to be some portacabins liberated from some construction sites and hobbled together. Stories say that if you sat on one end of the bar, and someone jumped up and down at the other end, your beer would spill! In fact, did you know that His Majesty himself is the Patron of the club? And that the club started in 1971, just 1 year after HM took power. OK history lesson over, on with the blog.

Then some real money was spent on the facilities, a decent club house - one of the best I've seen - anywhere, and a grass pitch, which makes things so much more chivalrous. Playing rugby on sand just isn't cricket, and it's bloody tiring enough running around let alone doing it in sand.

And then the club was shut down. In typical bureaucratic fashion, the actual reason for shutting down the club was for lack of permissions for several events over a period of weeks. But I suspect that if some guests from Kuwait were not dressed in drag, and not drunkenly arguing with some ROP people, that things may have been different for the fortunes of the club.

As we prepare for Ramadan, some bars, The Rugby Club included, will have a blow-out. Presumably to get rid of all their perishables (read: beer). And this year, now that the Rugby Club is open again (since October last year) the club will be hosting a band. On the 12th August, an excellent band from Dubai (The 3 Amigos), are coming from Dubai to play in the club.

So if you fancy some faintly homosexual banter and some good beer, there are worse things you could do than go down for the pre-house party season piss up. I believe there is a cover charge - 8 rials if you're not a member. At least it's less than a ticket to that excuse of a concert that Hi FM recently put on with Sean Kingston... I still cant believe I actually went to that thing.... the DJ was more entertaining that the main act... and I'm not saying I enjoyed the DJ either.....!

Oh, and if you enjoy full-contact ball playing with your friends... you will have to wait until the new season starts this fall, because I think the rugby pitch has been dug up for some maintenance at the moment.