Mike McFarlane says Abu Dhabi Harlequins can be proud of their recent splurge of silverware, but he was magnanimous in defeat as he congratulated Dubai Exiles on winning the UAE Premiership title.
Exiles won 38-12 as Quins’ hold on the last one of their four major trophies from a brilliant 2016/17 campaign was finally loosened at Dubai Sports City on Friday night.
Quins were shut down, suffocated by Exiles’ gargantuan pack, but also prevented or unable to play their usual free-flowing brand, with indiscipline and errors punctuating their game throughout the 80 minutes.
“We didn’t really get the chance to play any rugby. The boys are frustrated and that built and the indiscipline came as a result,” said McFarlane.
“I’d never take it away from any team in a final though. Whoever wins, wins and hats off to Exiles and everything they’ve achieved this year. Jacques (Benade, head coach) has done a good job there and some of their boys had really good games yesterday.”
Quins coach Mike McFarlane says his side can be proud of their dominance.
Sport is cyclical. Dominance doesn’t last forever. For the spirit of the game of rugby and its future in the UAE, it’s a good thing that Quins’ rivals have finally been able to escape from the grip they had on the domestic landscape last season.
There were fine margins in Quins relinquishing their chokehold, even in a transitional year when last season’s supreme squad was absolutely decimated by injuries, departures and the forced retirement of club legend Ben Bolger.
They lost the West Asia Premiership by a point after Jebel Ali Dragons pulled off a heroic bonus point victory in Bahrain on the last day of the season. They were beaten by Bahrain and Dragons in the West Asia Cup and Dubai Sevens semi-finals respectively.
In the last two seasons these two competitions were the only occasions Quins weren’t either champions or runners-up – having won six of 10 titles in the past 24 months; seven of 11 if you include this season’s inaugural UAE Premiership Cup.
In the last four seasons, Quins have won an amazing 10 of 18 trophies on offer in Gulf rugby. That includes their quintuple of West Asia Premiership and Cup, UAE Premiership, Dubai Sevens and Asia Rugby Western Clubs Champions League a year ago.
They won the Gulf Men’s League trophy at the Sevens three years in a row from 2014-16 as well as the UAE Premiership in 2014/15 and this season retained their Champions League crown in pre-season as well as winning the Premiership Cup.
To put that feat in context, the club with the second most trophies is Exiles, with four trophies. They added the UAE Premiership title to their Sevens triumph in December – a maiden triumph in 11 years. They won the UAE and West Asia Premiership double in Benade’s first season in 2015/16.
Bahrain (West Asia Cup), Jebel Ali Dragons (West Asia Premiership), Abu Dhabi Saracens (West Asia Championship/Gulf Top 6 2014/15) and Doha (Champions League 2015/16) have one title apiece.
It’s some record, and one McFarlane wants his players to be proud of.
“Teams have closed the gap but we’ve still been competitive and won titles this season,” said McFarlane.
“The boys are all competitive and have high standards. Some of the trophies slipped away and that was tough to take. The West Asia Premiership we lost by a point and with Bahrain losing at home to Dragons, a result we never saw coming.
“We look back and that was our fault when we lost at home to Dragons, we spilled points there. That’s where that went. At the Sevens it was a good strong semi-final against Dragons, not much we could have done.
“There were fine margins in all the competitions. I think we were runners-up in all of them. In the last two years we’ve won six and been runners-up twice in the last 10 finals, so the Sevens and the West Asia Cup were the only finals we haven’t been in.
“That’s a cracking record and something we can be really proud of. And it feeds the rivalry between us and Exiles. It’s a good one and everyone’s enjoyed it, inside and outside the clubs, and now we have Bahrain and Dragons coming into it too.”
