Abu Dhabi Harlequins head coach Mike McFarlane has warned some players they need to work harder to keep their starting positions following a 48-14 win against Muscat in their opening West Asia Championship game.
Despite Quins winning by 34 points, Muscat continued to close the gap to their opponents following 50 and 139-point deficits in their opening two games against Dubai duo Exiles and Hurricanes.
They also scored two tries against Quins but McFarlane knows there is more to come from his side.
“We had some great performances from Osama Sheyab, Barry Dwyer and Pete Wackett whilst other individuals know they need to step it up in training and next week should they want to hold on to a first team shirt,” said McFarlane, who was at least glad to finally get their campaign up and running.
“We were 37-0 up after 30 minutes and then things weren’t going our way which changed the fluency of the game and our ability to play our running rugby, but it was great to be back out on the field and we can’t wait to go again next weekend.”
For Muscat vice captain Karl Rasmussen, it was another step in the right direction.
“Had we not had a terrible first 15 minutes it would have been a totally different story,” said Rasmussen.
“We didn’t have our head right going into the game. We were too flat during the warm-up and therefore going into the game. It is something we will work on.
“We are getting better every game though and we’re looking forward to the next one where we intend to make the gap even smaller.”
