There was bittersweet joy for the UAE as the national and Shaheen sides endured differing fortunes at the Chennai 7s in India over the weekend.

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The UAE national team experienced a very difficult two days in the ARFU Asian Pre-Olympic qualifiers, winning only once and losing four as they finished fourth out of the five teams competing.

The senior team suffered heavy defeats to India (32-0), Uzbekistan (24-7) and Iran (24-0) before they  ended on a high, beating Laos 31-12 in their final match.

That put them through to the semi-finals where they again came up against India, going down 17-5.

That result saw them go into the third and fourth place playoff, where they were beaten 10-7 by Uzbekistan. The result means that the slim chance they had of qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, where sevens rugby will feature for the first time, has gone.

The main aim for the national team from the tournament was to work towards becoming a part of the elite Asia 7s circuit, but this also looks remote now.

There was better news for the Shaheen, however, who finished third in the ARFU Development 7s tournament, winning two and losing one of the three games.

Their aim was to gain more international exposure but they earned a whole lot more than that after earning a commanding, opening 27-0 win against Nepal, following that up with a 15-5 win over Bangladesh.

They lost their final pool game 38-0 to India B and also lost their semi-final match, before winning the third/fourth place playoff game to come out of the tournament with invaluable experience.

Both tournaments were played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on March 7 and March 8.

It was the first time UAE rugby had been in a position to field two teams, in the same series, outside of the UAE.