The UAE will play Thailand in the Plate competition and have the chance for a fifth-place finish at the Asia Rugby Under-20 Sevens Series in Hong Kong on Saturday.
Apollo Perelini’s men ended day one with a morale-boosting 29-0 romp against Singapore on Friday after they had opened up their Pool B campaign with two heavy defeats to the hosts and South Korea in Kowloon.
They were kept scoreless in their opener at the Kings Park Sports Ground, downed 19-0 by the Koreans, before suffering a 40-5 defeat to another of Asia’s powerhouses, Hong Kong.
That mauling effectively ruled them out of the running to finish in the top two and qualify for the Cup knockout stages, which would have seen them vie for the top-four finish coveted by coach Perelini prior to their departure to the tournament.
They restored confidence with the Singapore thrashing and captain Devante Steele believes it gives them a boost ahead of today’s meeting with Thailand (kick-off: 09:44 UAE time).
“We came with a goal in mind but had two hard games at the start,” said the 19-year-old Al Ain Amblers player.
“The Korea defeat really was due to our own mistakes and they capi- talised on them. Hong Kong are a very smart team and just got away from us and the boys were pretty gutted about that.
“We needed to regroup and, after a good chat where we said we know we are playing for the country, the boys threw the kitchen sink at Singapore in the last game, leaving it all on the pitch, knowing it was the last game.
Supporting @uaerugby, acting consul-gen of UAE in Hong Kong @asiarugby U20's 7's @QaisUAE @moooody12345 #M.Alkaabi pic.twitter.com/39LavUnFl4
— Apollo Perelini (@Apollo11Rugby) August 12, 2016
“It was a brilliant game, the boys really pulled it out of the bag. Now we are ready to come back tomorrow switched on, ready to go and start again.”
Ben Van Rooyen scored two tries in the Singapore rout, with Ryno De Bruyn, Khalid Al Junaibi and Younes Al Balooshi all crossing once, and the same opponents or Chinese Taipei await in the final if they can overcome the Thais.
The UAE beat Thailand in the Plate knockouts at the first leg of the ARSS in Malaysia two weeks ago to claim seventh place and they will be confident of claiming fifth place this time around.
Jerry Kilicanasau admitted fitness let the UAE down on day one but is glad the team still have something to play for on Saturday.
“We were delighted with the last game because we wanted a good win to end the day,” said the Amblers talent.
“The two games we had up first were disappointing with lack of fitness costing us, we could’ve had that one (South Korea loss) but we let ourselves down with fitness, communication and a bit of negativity.
“Overall we are now really looking forward to the semi-finals of the Plate against Thailand.”
