Big dreams for new Abu Dhabi Saracens coach

Matt Jones - Editor 08:11 17/07/2016
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  • The man in charge: Winston Cowie (c).

    New Abu Dhabi Saracens head coach Winston Cowie has set the bar high by admitting he wants to win the West Asia Premiership in his debut campaign.

    Sarries shocked the Gulf by being crowned champions of west Asia in 2014/15, beating Doha 26-20 in an epic clash in Qatar.

    They remained competitive last year but were usurped as champions by Dubai Exiles, finishing third in the West Asia Championship, while also claiming fourth place in the UAE Premiership.

    Fixtures for both competitions will be combined in 2016/17, acting as double-headers, with both to be decided by finals between the top two sides, and Cowie has targeted bringing some silverware back to the Al Ghazal trophy cabinet at the end of the campaign.

    “I am incredibly excited by the opportunity to work with one of the Gulf’s top sides,” said Cowie, who the club revealed earlier this month would take over from last season’s joint head and player coaches, Stephen Hamilton and Craig Nutt.

    “I am particularly looking forward to working with the forwards, harnessing the power of this beast of a pack, and working hard with the team to win the West Asia Premiership this year, in what is shaping up to be one of the most competitive Gulf competitions ever.

    “With the excellent group of players we have we will be working hard in the pre-season and my challenge will be to ensure that week in week out we are a consistently physical team that gets results.

    “The team has some of the best players in the Gulf in it in their respective positions – the likes of Jaen Botes, Craig Nutt, Steve Hamilton, Matt Hutchings, Lehan Koekemoer, Rickus Swart and Murray Reason.”

    New Zealander Cowie was part of the Mike Ballard Foundation Conquistadors who travelled to Madagascar and the Seychelles on a charitable tour earlier this year.

    There he met Hamilton and club captain Mike Pugliese and said speaking to them had really got him excited for the new season.

    “Having spoken to a few of the gents, there appears to be real hunger at Sarries for a big 2016-2017,” added Cowie.

    The 33-year-old has been in the UAE for three years, having spent three years in Qatar where he was club captain before a knee injury forced him to retire five years ago.

    He was a forwards coach with capital city rivals Harlequins in 2014 as they won 10 out of 10 games in the Gulf Top Six.

    Cowie revealed he was attracted to the community atmosphere at Sarries. “It is a club which is on the rise,” he said. “I attended the end of season club dinner with my wife Lucy and was really impressed by it. It was at the dinner that we started chatting about the prospect of coaching, and having spent the last week with Steve and Mike, both outstanding gents, I am really looking forward to it.”

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