Dubai Hurricanes coach Russ Huxtable hopes his players can avoid a potential banana skin as the Abu Dhabi Saracens visit 7he Sevens this Friday.
The Hurricanes hauled themselves back into contention for a top-two finish in the Gulf Top Six with a 38-28 defeat of second-placed Doha in Dubai last week.
That result leaves them fifth in the table but crucially just six points behind the Qatari side. Saracens, meanwhile, let a 31-17 lead slip to lose their fifth match in six on their debut regional campaign away at Bahrain.
Huxtable said: “To be honest, they (Saracens) probably worry me more than the other sides because they can certainly be a banana skin we can slip on,” he said.
“They beat [Jebel Ali] Dragons before Christmas; we’ve yet to do that so they are capable of beating anybody on their day.
“Although we beat them well not so long ago, to dismiss them and go into this game with a level of complacency would be a huge mistake.”
A bonus-point win against Saracens could see the Hurricanes narrow the gap to Doha to just a single point. Not that Huxtable is allowing himself to think about a possible grand final appearance.
“I think mathematically that is certainly a possibility. We’ll have to win all our games and then the other results have got to go in our favour,” he said. “But I would have thought there are others in a better position than ourselves to make the top two.”
But Huxtable did add: “We’re pretty confident that in the next four games we can do pretty well.
“Will we win them all? Only time can tell. It would be a bonus if we could finish in the top two.”
Saracens coach Steve Evans has set his side the target of taking 10 points from their remaining four games in the Gulf competition.
“We’ve got to get used to winning. I think once the first win comes then we’ll continue to build from there,” he said.
Harlequins strengthened their grip on first place with a 40-27 win over the Dragons last Friday.
The Quins are now 10 points clear at the top ahead of their clash with Doha at Zayed Sports City this weekend. In Friday’s other game, Bahrain travel to face the Dragons, with their hosts having targeted an unbeaten finish to the season.
