On a weekend in which two Emiratis take their place in a UAE squad for an international match against Kazakhstan, everything seems rosy in rugby's fertile development garden.
However, while the amateur game continues to take root in unusual outreaches, the perils of expansion in the professional game are becoming apparent.
Last week, the chairman of the New Zealand rugby union warned that the game "has been living beyond its means for far too long", while reporting a NZ$9.4million (Dh27.7m) loss for 2010.
English Premiership club Leeds revealed they will start next season with a £2m (Dh12.2m) debt hanging over them.
They are not the only ones. A recent report suggested that 10 of the 12 Premiership clubs are saddled with debt. Clubs have often complained about the restrictiveness of the salary cap - introduced so they do not overspend - and how it inhibits their chances of competing with Europe's elite.
The two most successful clubs this season are the only ones operating within their financial means. Leicester, who lead the Premiership, and Northampton, its lone representatives in the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup, are said to be the only two clubs in England's top flight operating in the black.
Each of them benefit from being long-established centres for union. Leeds are a cautionary tale about the precarious business of imposing professionalism in a place where the public remain apathetic towards the game.