UAE bow out without a win at Dubai Sevens

Murray Strang and Chris Gregory saved the blushes for UAE as their maiden campaign in the Emirates Airlines Dubai Rugby Sevens tournament fizzled out with heavy defeats against Scotland 40-5 and Kenya 35-5 at The Sevens stadium off Dubai-Al Ain Road on Saturday.

The only consolation for the hosts was achieving their goal of being able to score in both these matches but they found the big boys too hot to handle when they got into their stride.

In the Bowl quarter-final against Scotland, former Glasgow Hawks player Strang scored a memorable try against his country of birth on his 30th birthday.

“It was a dream come true playing against Scotland. I’ve watched them playing Sevens ever since I took up the game. I supported them all across the globe and watched them in Dubai for the last three years. Running against them and scoring a try was a dream come true for me,” said Strang.

“It was great for me to play against my home country. When I saw the draw come up last night, I was absolutely delighted and raring to go this morning," he added.

Talking about his overall experience during the weekend, Strang said: “It was a roller coaster. It was a really good team effort there. It hasn’t always gone for us. Results have been tough. It’s really been a baptism of fire against all these international players but it’s been a great experience for all,” he said.

“I have always come here thinking if I could make it to the finals with Abu Dhabi Harlequins. That has been the aim for last three years. I have never managed that. So to pull on the national jersey, I feel privileged to be really able to do that," he added.

Scotland had taken the lead in the opening minute with a breakaway try by Ross Miller.

UAE got their act together with the ball with Strang spotting a gap and slipping past the last defender to touch down under the posts. But he was off target with the conversion which would have levelled the scores.

But Scotland just pulled away past a ragged defence to score five more tries, including two by Andrew Turnbull to romp home easily.

In the Shield semifinal against Kenya, UAE sprung a surprise by taking the lead for the first time in the competition in the third minute.

They went on the offensive from the start and after a sustained spell of pressure were rewarded when Chris Gregory dashed over on the left corner after a series of phased out attacks for an unconverted try.

But Kenya surged ahead 7-5 immediately after the restart with Willy Ambaka Ndayara slipping through half-hearted tackles to score the first of his two tries.

UAE enjoyed plenty of possession but found themselves trailing 14-5 at the break.

Kenya stepped up a gear after the turn around capitalising on UAE's mistakes and missed tackles to score three more tries.

UAE's star player Emad Reyal made some jinking runs while Emirati Mohammed Rahma came close with a dash on the left flank.

Steve Smith attempted one final hurrah for UAE with a superb chip kick but was denied by the awkward bounce inside the goal area.

Both UAE skipper Tim Fletcher and coach Wayne Marsters noted that although the side lacked in depth, they were not wanting in commitment.

"It was a 100 per cent all the time. I think our depths got tested a bit more today and to be honest, it was probabably a bit more disappointing because we really had a good sort of game. Just a little bit of conditioning and depth would have done a lot of difference," said Fletcher.

"It's not to be but we take the experience from it, enjoy it, learn from it and go again next time," he added.

"When we had ball in hand, support play was one of the positives of this tournament. All of the guys showed real enthusiasm to try and get there the ball in hand and create angles," said Fletcher.

"We lacked a bit of depth for different reasons. It would be nice to have a bigger catchment of players involved in the Sevens programme to choose from," lamented Marsters.

"We talked about never giving up and being a team that commits 100 per cent. I thought we did that and often we finisehd quite strongly. I like the way we never gave up. Apart from match against Fiji we scored in every match. It was disappointing at time that we did not get the one on one tackles right," he said.

Former Arabian Gulf captain Sean Hurley who took part in his eighth IRB tournament said: "It doesn't get easier. It has got more and more competitive. It used to be said there were one or two easier teams in the pool. But were taught lessons yesterday (Friday) though it evened out a bit today (Saturday)."

"We kind of lacked a little bit of depth. The guys were spent after a long hard day yesterday and it started to take it's toll on the legs. We had our opportunities and the boys went down swinging. I have no regrets and we left everything out there on the field," said Hurley.

Emirati Rahma said it was a great opportunity to train with players like Fletcher and Hurley.

"I learnt so much from this training camp, specially from this competition. I'm really I got the chance and did what I can do. Hopefully from now on we will get better and better," he said.

Asked what positives they could take from this tournament, Fletcher said: "Our standard of play has improved tremendously. I think boys got a taste of what international rugby is like. That's the highest it's going to get. The boys have comnpeted and they've realised what it's all about. How quick, how tough and how physical it is. They have to try and get their level up as close as possible. That's what we can take in this tournament."

"When you blood these guys and given them taste of it, they get enthusiasm. They now know strength, speed and the fitness that's required," added Hurley.

"It's definitely different than what I expected. Everything looks different on tv. The game's actually faster and tougher than what I thought. Day by day we get more experience. We never knew what internaitonal rugby is. Hopefully we'll keep progressing and qualify for next year as well," said Rahma.

"I thought we had 12 battlers. We had guys who had committed all the way through. That's a real positive. In Sevens you can get found out for gas and skills and condition. While we had lot of character it would have been nice to have a bigger catchment of guys to choose from," added Marsters.

 

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