As Dubai Exiles took a huge stride towards collecting their first UAE Premiership crown in a decade with victory against Abu Dhabi Harlequins last night, chairman Mike Wolff was left to reflect on just how far the club has come.
Five years ago Wolff was forced to walk into the Quins changing room and forfeit a game as not enough Exiles first team players had shown up to take to the field for their match.
Exiles’ full-back Ryan Rapallo looks to make some headway.
Now, in the club’s 50th year, they stand on the verge of collecting a West Asia Championship and UAE Premiership double.
“It’s been such a journey but to see it all come together is special,” said Wolff, chairman for the last five years, which have been some of the most difficult in the club’s history.
“Five years ago I had to walk into Harlequins’ changing rooms to apologise that not enough of our first team had turned up and we had to forfeit a game.
Big game. Big venue. Today's match being played on Pitch 1 at The Sevens, the main Dubai Sevens stadium being used pic.twitter.com/5AOH1RIr6E
— Matt Jones (@MattJones360) 1 April 2016
“It was our lowest ebb, for me personally it wasn’t good enough and not acceptable. Today it feels like we’ve come such a long way from that.”
As Exiles have been struggling, Quins have been thriving and are still the reigning Premiership champions, for another week at least.
The battle for domestic honours has been between the two teams all season, with Exiles pipping the capital club to the WAC title a few weeks ago, while this victory went some way towards ensuring the Premiership will also be theirs for the first time since 2006.
“They’re (Quins) a great club, they have an awful lot of history and an awful lot of talent and we respect them hugely,” added Wolff.
Exiles try-scorer Viriniki Leveanasiga offloads to a team-mate.
“We’d lost to them twice in some great games this season so for them to come here and for us to come away with the win in less than ideal conditions is brilliant, but it’s not over and we’ve got one more game to go and we need to nail it.”
There is one more round left and although victory opened a four-point gap between top and second, both teams know there could yet be more drama next week, with Quins hosting Dubai Hurricanes and Exiles welcoming Al Ain Amblers.
“They played well and at the end of the day you win some you lose some,” said Quins assistant coach Rory Greene.
“It’s never over until it’s over though and Al Ain are a quality side. They can score from anywhere, they score points and they’ll want to end their season on a high. Equally Hurricanes won’t lie down against us.”
The game was testament to the paper-thin gap that has existed between the clubs all season.
Its only try was scored by Viriniki Leveanasiga. The giant lock found the key to open the Quins door just before the interval, crashing over to give Exiles the lead for the first time.
Luke Stevenson, who’s flawless performance a month ago led to Quins inflicting a 32-24 on Exiles in the WAC, their only defeat of the competition, kicked two early penalties for the visitors and three in all.
Exiles squandered several try-scoring chances but once they had broken through they maintained a vice-like grip on the contest as Durandt Gerber’s boot kept them in charge during a cagey and largely uneventful second half.
