Jacques Benade believes opponents will have a hard time stopping Abu Dhabi Harlequins from winning the West Asia and UAE Premiership this season.
The South African was full of praise for his side’s fierce foes despite their dreadful season continuing with a 53-17 defeat – their heaviest of the 2016/17 campaign yet.
It was their fifth in eight West Asia Premiership games and leaves them four points adrift of Jebel Ali Dragons who have a game in hand and crucially occupy the fourth and final playoff place.
Mike McFarlane’s Quins, meanwhile, stretched their unbeaten run to eight, and Benade feels it will be hard to halt that momentum.
“I can’t see anyone stopping them,” said Benade.
“If Quins can get the ball to their backs, no-one will get near them. They are the best team in the league by far.”
Last year the path to silverware was a two-horse race but even though Exiles have struggled to replicate the excellent form that saw them claim the double, Benade feels plenty of teams are capable of having a go at Quins.
He added: “They showed (on Friday) that if you give them the ball they will be difficult to beat. If Doha can keep all their players they will be the only one, and they will kill teams up front.
“Everyone is stepping up; Dragons, Bahrain, Doha. Even Saracens are better than their results show, they were the unluckiest team by far in the first half of the season.”
Benade reserved special mention in defeat to Quins of fly-half Luke Stevenson and centre Brian Geraghty, who went over for two tries.
“I think Stevenson is a great 10 and I think he should be eligible for the UAE this year, while the 13 (Geraghty) was outstanding,” said the former Emerging Springbok cap.
“I think he’s their answer, because they always had Willie (Umu), but who do they play with him. He was outstanding with his speed on the ball and stepping, and I think their back three were brilliant.”
On the eve of the game, Benade labelled the clash a must win for his side, and even though his side truly do have a battle on their hands to make the post-season, he says his players must still believe their season is still alive.
“It’s important to still believe we can make the playoffs,” added Benade.
“The boys want to make the playoffs, but it all depends on our results. I think it’s between us and Dragons. It’s just a shame as we must go to Bahrain now and get a result.
“I was disappointed with the score (against Quins). The first 30 minutes we were in the game but if you don’t take your opportunities you’re going to struggle.
“It’s the first time this season we were good with the ball and looked like we wanted to play rugby, we just need to work on defence now.”
