Jon Beeton, first on the right, amazed his teammates with his enthusiasm.
The majority of the UAE national team players were squirming in their seats and trying to find the nearest exit when Bruce Birtwistle, the erstwhile coach, made them sit through the video nasty of their 111-0 defeat to Japan in May.
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For one player, however, that Asian Five Nations match represented the finest moment in a burgeoning international rugby career.
Jon Beeton’s break, following an interception on the edge of his own 22, ended inches short of the Japanese try-line.
In that one moment, the rampaging outside centre, an engineer by profession, was the embodiment of the plucky amateur rugby player, railing against the relentless professionals from Asia’s leading rugby nation.
The World Cup-bound Japanese may have scored 17 tries and a century of points, but Beeton’s salvo was the abiding memory for the 2,000 or so spectators who made the trip to The Sevens in Dubai that night.
“After the Japan game, coach Bruce made us watch the video of the game,” said David Vittes, a teammate of Beeton’s at both international level and with his club side, the Dubai Exiles.
“Every time it got to his intercept break, he made us watch it over and over again, so many times that we joked that if we watched it enough times he might actually make it to the line.
“Jon backed himself to score and came so close. That’s one thing people will remember him for on the pitch. He always backed himself 100 per cent, didn’t hesitate in the moment, and more times than not he got the results needed.”
Vittes will lead a side called the Studente Dubai Exiles in a fund-raising match for his stricken teammate, at The Sevens this evening.
Beeton is on life support in hospital in Dubai, after suffering critical injuries following an accident while on a boating trip with friends. Specialist medical opinion says that he will never regain consciousness.
An afternoon of fund raising for his family, starting at 3pm, will be followed by the match between his clubmates and a national select XV, which will kick off at 7.30pm.
“Jon has given his all for our club, and his adopted country, on and off the rugby
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