Ross Samson revels in "best day I've had" as Jebel Ali Dragons return to prominence and win West Asia Premiership

“I came in 2013 when we won the last treble. I was injured for the Sevens though and injured myself in the warm-up for the Gulf Top 6 final so I never really felt I could call myself a proper league winner,” said the Scottish scrum-half after an epic finale to an epic season – Dragons beat Bahrain 36-32 in Saar via the bonus point required to stop Abu Dhabi Harlequins retaining their crown, winning the league by a mere point.

“There’s a part of you that doesn’t feel part of it if you don’t play the final. But this is the best day I’ve had at Dragons.

“The best two moments this season were beating Quins in the Sevens semis and getting that monkey off our back. The second was yesterday when Niko (Volavola) scored the fifth try. We knew that was it.”

Since that debut season following his arrival in Dubai, it’s been quite a different story for Dragons and Samson.

Players and coaches departed and success was replaced by stagnation. As Quins, fledglings Abu Dhabi Saracens and sleeping giants Dubai Exiles rose to prominence, Dragons slipped into obscurity.

The following two campaigns in 2014/15 and 2015/16 were transitional ones. They reached the UAE Premiership final last term but were beaten by Quins as a famous quintuple was toasted. A first piece of silverware in 44 months was within reach as they reached the Sevens final in December, but they were eclipsed by a first Gulf Men’s League title for Exiles in 11 years.

But just three months later and finally they have another trophy to put in the club cabinet. And Samson admits Dragons’ players have grown closer having risen from the ashes.

“The year after that (last treble) a lot of boys went off and got married and had kids and we were at sixes and sevens for a few years,” said Samson, 30.

“Bruce (Pendrey) came in and coached us (in 2015/16), I helped out but didn’t have a clue what I was doing. We had a few good players coming in like Matt Henry and Jonathan Hamilton and since then we’ve built and built.

“There’s been a few players join every season and we’ve now got a nucleus that’s seen all the rubbish and been at the bottom scrapping. We’ve got better and better and HP (Henry Paul) has come in and that’s been a massive positive influence and he introduced the structure.

“We’ve got J Mac and Buisty (assistant coaches Jonny MacDonald and Andy Buist) coaching and HP has been away the last few weeks.

“They’ve stepped up and we’ve been playing out of our skins. We’ve got 20 or 30 honest lads who want to win the league and we’ve done it.”

Coming into the Premiership’s final weekend, Dragons were top but knew they were second favourites to win the title, having to go to Bahrain – previously unbeaten at home in 14 months under Louie Tonkin.

Realistically only a bonus point win would suffice. Quins finished their campaign at second-bottom Dubai Eagles where a maximum victory was expected.

If Dragons had won without a bonus point the two teams would have finished level on points, but the title would have stayed in the UAE capital with Quins possessing a superior points for and difference record.

“There was no real option for us,” said Samson, whose side raced into a 36-11 lead in the second half – with tries for Volavola, Ryno Fourie, Jonathan Hamilton, James Love and skipper Samson – before the hosts surged back to score three tries and leave Dragons sweating.

“We had to go there and get a bonus point otherwise Quins were going to win the league. Half-time we were 11-10 down. We knew we had to score three more tries which we did in 10-15 minutes and then got one more so we were 36-11 up with 20 minutes to go.

“We let it slip a little bit. When they were about to score the last try I was screaming at the guys to let them score, shouting “We’ve won, we’ve won”. I was crying on the pitch with joy.”