UAE rugby titans to collide in Gulf Top Six showdown

Kenny Laurie 10:53 30/01/2014
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  • Mountain to climb: Hurricanes (white) face a tough encounter against the Dragons.

    Old rivalries renew this Friday when the Dubai Hurricanes and Jebel Ali Dragons go head-to-head in the Gulf Top Six, but Canes coach Russ Huxtable doesn’t have revenge on his mind.

    The Dragons came out on top 37-8 in a near perfect performance the last time the two sides met, in the final of the UAE Premiership, and are the top scoring team so far in the Gulf Top Six.

    As holders of the Top Six, where they currently lie in second behind the Abu Dhabi Harlequins, the Dragons will be favourites but the Hurricanes know they have more than enough to take down the champs.

    “There’s no revenge here,” Huxtable told Sport360°. “The Premiership final put things in perspective. We hold the Dragons in high respect. “They have beaten us twice, it’s a big game for us, we know we can win it, we are capable of winning it but we have to play for the full 80 minutes.

    “We haven’t started the Top Six that well, we had a bad result in Doha which is always a tough place to go to.

    Last week we had a great performance for 79 minutes, unfortunately the game is 80 minutes long. That’s the second time that has happened to us.

    “So for us really, it’s a building process, we need to stick to our game plan, not let off when we have the lead and finish the game off.

    “It’s a mountain to climb to be quite honest. We have the backs to win games, but I have always said ‘it’s the forwards that win games and the backs decide by how much’.

    “If we spend all game defending, then we won’t win the game.” In a game where forward play will be crucial, the Hurricanes will start without key second row Conor Coakley. The Hurricanes should have come away with points last week when they played the Harlequins but lost 20-19 on the final play of the game.

    After that defeat, Huxtable stressed to his side the importance of maintaining concentration for the full 80 minutes. And he knows that the Dragons are a side that can punish any mistakes.

    “They’re a good side all round. They have a solid pack, aggressive on the loose ball and they have a talented scrum half who can move the ball away quickly.

    “If they have the ball they can be lethal. I know the Harlequins are top at the moment but I think the Dragons are the team to beat at the moment.

    They start as favourites quite frankly. “We’ve developed our game plan and concentrated on set pieces and simplify a little bit. We’ve not worried about the Dragons so much, it’s more about getting our game plan right.”

    Elsewhere, the Harlequins host Bahrain as they try to maintain their perfect record while the Abu Dhabi Saracens are in Doha searching for their first win.

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