Jebel Ali Dragons head to the “graveyard” on Thursday night knowing that all their hard work in a resounding 51-20 triumph against Dubai Hurricanes last week will be buried if they are beaten at Abu Dhabi Saracens.
Dragons were impressive as they won for the first time under Henry Paul’s stewardship a week ago – but everyone at the club is aware it will count for little if they don’t build on that momentum.
“As a first team we feel that we are still a long way from fulfilling our true potential,” said director of rugby Paul Hart. “Therefore we go to Sarrries hoping to improve further still in terms of performance levels.
“In terms of the results we know to expect a very tough evening as Sarries have a very strong forward pack and physical back line.”
Dragons’ UAE international full-back was happy with last week’s win but said he and his team-mates have already consigned it to memory.
“We have spoken about it at training that the past weekend’s result against the Hurricanes was good and we are happy with the result, however that is something of the past now and we’ll focus on (today’s) game,” said the South African, who feels compatriot and former Sarries star Gio Fourie can be an asset for Dragons.
“It is never easy to win at the graveyard in Abu Dhabi but if we stuck to our structure and game plan then hopefully we can get the result.
“It will be a full 80 minutes of grinding it out. I have to say that we will definitely benefit with one of their key players Gio that joined us this season.
“He has been performing excellently in all his games and contributed a lot so far. Saracens has a really good forward pack and we are hoping to match them up front.
“We have played one less game so far, so to get some points out of the game will be crucial.”
Fellow UAE man Matt Hutchings believes things are finally starting to come together for Sarries. They had an opening day win against Al Ain Amblers chalked off and were then well beaten by Doha.
They battled diligently in a 20-13 defeat to Abu Dhabi Harlequins last week and Hutchings claims Sarries, who could welcome back talisman Jaen Botes for the game, are building up some momentum.
“Obviously being three games in and only having the one losing bonus point to show for our efforts means we need to start picking up some wins,” said the Welshman.
“Last week was really only our second game together as a whole squad and we feel we put in a good shift even with the result not going our way. So again this week it’s about building on that performance and getting the win against a confident Dragons side.”
