#360Rugby: Itoje a new breed of second row, Cotter rejuvenates Scots, Dubai Exiles braced for thrilling finish

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  • This week's #360Rugby takes in the Six Nations and pressing matters in the UAE.

    In this week’s take on all things rugby, Sport360 takes in the meteoric rise of Maro Itoje, London Irish’s American adventure, Scotland’s improved form and a thrilling end to the UAE season.

    ITOJE REVOLUTIONISING SECOND ROW

    Before Usain Bolt, sprinters HAD to be short and muscle-bound. However, the Jamaican demonstrated that tall sprinters can use their unique assets and be even more successful.

    In the same way, Maro Itoje has proved that top international second-row forwards do not need to be hulking, fearsome cavemen in their late-twenties who have the battle-scars of 50 Tests.

    At 6’5 and 116Kg the 21-year-old certainly does not lack any size, but his composition is more similar to an athletic high-jumper, less cumbersome man-mountain.

    This extra athleticism means that the Saracen has a far higher work-rate during a game than the traditional lump. He is agile and strong enough to win turnovers at crucial moments like a back-row and his tackle count of 14 was easily England’s highest against Wales.

    In the set-piece he is an even more effective lineout jumper, where he frustrated the Welsh attack by pinching three of their throws.

    After comparing Itoje to a Vauxhall Viva prior to the tournament, England coach Eddie Jones has rebranded his star forward a BMW and with an engine like that it’s not hard to see why.

    IRISH BREAK NEW GROUND FOR RUGBY

    If truth be told this scribe was skeptical over London Irish’s plans to stage a Premiership fixture in USA.

    As the Premiership’s whipping boys, were London Irish successful enough to draw a crowd? Is their enough interest in rugby on America’s west coast? Would the exercise do more damage than good?

    However a green-clad crowd of 15,000 pitched up (complete with bagpipes in some cases) to witness Saracens’ 26-16 away victory to prove the naysayers wrong.

    Fans travelled from Philadelphia, New Jersey and the New York districts to the Red Bull Arena and were so loud that Irish wing Alex Lewington remarked afterwards that ‘it felt like the Americans took us in as their home team.’

    The Reading-based team have made no secret of their plans to make the fixture an annual event, but at eight points adrift of Newcastle at the bottom of the table, a Championship budget may not allow for such extravagance in 2017.

    WELCOME BACK SCOTLAND

    Scotland claimed back-to-back wins in the Six Nations for the first time since 2013 following their thrilling 29-18 win over France at Murrayfield.

    While England fans will be rejoicing their title triumph, the win has a much deeper significance: Scotland are slowly becoming a competitive force again and the Six Nations can only benefit from their resurgence.

    In the space to two seasons Vern Cotter has performed miracles on a side that were perennially seen as the tournament’s soft touch alongside Italy. However in 2016, even when they lost Scotland looked like scoring tries and not simply relying on the trusted boot of Greig Laidlaw to scrape home.

    In Ross Ford, Richie Gray, John Hardie, Laidlaw, Duncan Taylor and Stuart Hogg the team have a strong spine and in Finn Russell the side have a fly-half capable of releasing a host of dangerous backs.

    Before the Tartan Army get too excited about their victory over France there is the small matter of an equally-rejuvenated Ireland side in Dublin to navigate past in the final round of the competition – and what a game that will be.

    EXILES AND QUINS BRACED FOR THRILLING WEST ASIA CONCLUSION

    The West Asia Championship returns for its climactic round this weekend and Dubai Exiles director of rugby Jacques Benade believes his team’s maiden defeat in the competition 11 days ago could prove to be a blessing in disguise.

    Exiles might have claimed the cross-border crown on March 4 with victory against Abu Dhabi Harlequins, but Mike McFarlane’s men put on a scintillating display to win 32-24 and inflict a first defeat of the competition on Benade’s resurgent side.

    The win saw Quins close the gap on the leaders to just a point, with the title to be decided on Friday.

    “I think it’s good for the league (that Harlequins won),” said Benade. “We’ve come a long way since the start of the season and the Quins game just shows now we have to work even harder. It’s not over and we know what we need to do. We just have to go out and do it.”

    PAUL CAN MAKE JEBEL ALI DRAGONS FORCE AGAIN

    The announcement of former England rugby union and New Zealand rugby league international Henry Paul as Jebel Ali head coach should put the club right back at the forefront of domestic rugby in the UAE next season.

    The sensational news comes as a welcome shot in the arm for a club that has fallen on hard times in the last 18 months following back-to-back treble-winning campaigns in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

    Dragons currently sixth in the West Asia Championship and full 15 points adrift of league leaders Dubai Exiles.

    “There’s been a steady increase in coaching standards in the UAE in recent years, for example Jeremy Manning becoming player-coach at Abu Dhabi Harlequins was a big step, but no-one has done something of this magnitude,” Dragons captain Niall Statham told Sport360.

    “I think it’s another step towards the game becoming professional over here and the club is starting to reap the rewards of a very professional set-up. Hopefully this is the first step to propelling us back to the forefront of rugby in the UAE.”

    EXTRA TIME

    Have you ever seen a rugby player used as like tennis ball? Well neither have we, but this is the closest thing to it you are ever likely to see. Harlequins powerhouse Mat Luamanu uses his tree trunk arms to hold off a defender before igniting a wonderful bit of play from the Londoners.

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