The UAE bounced back from their opening day nightmare to win the Bowl in Qingdao yesterday and restore hope ahead of the next two legs of the Asia Sevens Series.
Roelof Kotze’s men’s dreams of breaking into Asia Rugby’s top eight in China diminished on Saturday after the UAE suffered heavy defeats to the Philippines and Hong Kong.
They were whitewashed in both Pool A games, beaten 20-0 in their opener against the fifth-ranked Philippines, going down 24-0 to Hong Kong, Asia’s second best team, in their final encounter.
A modicum of pride, however, was recovered as they won the Bowl on the second day of the competition, initially beating Chinese Taipei 24-12 yesterday before overcoming Singapore 15-7 in the final to finish ninth overall.
“The team is buzzing at the moment. There are some very happy boys around who feel we’ve proved a few people wrong and shown we do belong at this level,” said Abu Dhabi Harlequins winger Chris Marshall, who was making his international bow for his adopted nation at the tournament.
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“I think we were slightly nervous and uncertain against the Philippines (on day one) and Hong Kong are obviously one of the leading teams in Asia. But those performances showed to ourselves more than anyone that we could play and compete.
“So we brought that confidence into the games yesterday and came out with two fantastic wins. I’m very proud of the boys as we all really dug in for the final game.”
The 25-year-old was instrumental to victory on day two, scoring two tries against Singapore in the final and also grabbing another in the semi-final triumph.
Jebel Ali Dragons’ Ian Overton also touched down in the final, as well as crossing for two of four UAE tries against Chinese Taipei, Munier Kenny getting their fourth in the 24-12 win.
Marshall believes the team’s performances on day two proved their dream of entering the top is eight is realistic, while he was also happy with a personal try tally of three on his UAE debut.
Well done @uaerugby for their win in the Bowl! Great start to the #rugby7s season #uaeontherise https://t.co/0xuQls7TIc
— Mark Jackson (@rugby_mark) September 6, 2015
“The top eight is the goal and a ninth place finish shows we’re not far off,” said the Quins’ flyer. “There are teams in the top eight that we certainly feel we can beat in the future. I’m very pleased with my tries. We struggled in attack on Saturday so it was good to get over for a few today.”
Dubai Exiles’ centre Justin Walsh feels the UAE improved as the tournament progressed and says only slight tweaks are needed ahead of the second leg of the Series in Thailand later this month.
“Everyone is very happy with a first bit of silverware for the team,” said the 23-year-old. “(Saturday) was tough with the Philippines and Hong Kong but we improved in every game.
The Hong Kong game showed how strong we are in defence, we just needed more composure in attack which we managed to show yesterday. “As a team we set targets for each game and we managed to build each match so overall it was very positive.”
