After a narrow loss in round one, the Abu Dhabi Saracens are looking to show that they belong in the Gulf Top Six when they take on the Dubai Hurricanes on Friday.
While the Saracens’ 35-20 loss looks heavy on paper, it wasn’t until late on that the more experienced Bahrain team made their advantage felt.
Despite being out with a leg injury, captain Vatulele Tusitala has been a constant presence within the team and has been able to watch from a distance the club’s evolution from second division team to Gulf Top Six side in under a year.
This week the Abu Dhabi side are against more familiar opposition in the Dubai Hurricanes, who were also dealt a defeat in the opening
“Our scrums dominated and we had good phases but the other set piece and the lineout, we struggled a bit.
“If we can play the whole 80 minutes against the Hurricanes like we played the first half or so against Bahrain, then we’ll be very strong,” added Tusitala.
Sadly, Tusitala won’t be able to take the field this week but he has shown signs of recovery and has been able to participate in some light training.
He is “frustrated” to still be on the sidelines but assured fans and team-mates he will be back soon.
Elsewhere, there are two tough fixtures for the UAE’s other two teams in the competition. The Jebel Ali Dragons travel to Bahrain where a win will help resurrect a traumatic opening game that saw a heavy 34-7 loss to rivals Abu Dhabi Harlequins.
Dragons coach Ross Mills has already said after the last defeat that the club are not pressing any panic buttons but has nevertheless insisted that they need to start bringing in points, beginning with this weekend’s trip to Bahrain.
Mills will not be ringing the changes this week and says his players have responded well in training since the defeat.
“We will be going pretty much the same old way,” the Englishman said. “I think we’ll have the same side out. So this weekend’s about digging in and getting the result, we had a good week of training, everyone is back and motivated so we’re just looking to get in to Bahrain and come away with the result,” added the coach.
The Harlequins, who topped the Gulf Top Six last year but lost in the final to the Jebel Ali Dragons, will be looking to keep up their winning form when they take on Doha in Qatar.
