Jebel Ali Dragons’ player/coach Murray Strang admits his side face an uphill task to retain their West Asia Cup crown and it’s already a “make or break” situation.
It’s only three games into the 10-game Gulf Top Six but Dragons, the reigning treble winners for the past two seasons, look worryingly short of the firepower that has helped them blaze a trail through Gulf rugby over the past two seasons.
After losing their Sport360° UAE Premiership and Dubai Sevens Gulf Men’s League titles to perennial bridesmaids Abu Dhabi Harlequins this season, Strang’s side have stuttered in the GT6, losing to a red-hot Abu Dhabi Saracens side in their opening fixture.
A 23-16 come-from-behind victory was scrambled against Bahrain but defeat at Quins on Friday night has left the Dragons out of puff. “It’s tough times at the moment,” admitted the Scotsman.
“We’re disappointed with the loss and it’s uphill now for us. “We’ve yet to meet Doha and Dubai Hurricanes, who beat us before Christmas, and we’re already one win from three.
“So it’s probably already make or break in a fortnight whether we’re in the running for the final or whether we’re winding down,” Strang added.
The 25-18 loss at Zayed Sports City – the scene of such triumph when they beat Quins to win the West Asia Cup and with it a second successive treble less than a year ago – was a scene of despondency on Friday.
The fly-half spent four years in the UAE capital as a Quins player and said he always likes coming back, although his face didn’t show that at the final whistle.
“It’s tough to work out how we feel after that,” he said. “I do enjoy playing against Quins because it’s always a head-to-head battle; there’s always good rugby, points scored and we normally know there’s a game there to be won.
“They give chances but at the same time they’re brutal when you give them the ball and space. “They had a lot of chances to score and probably would have been kicking themselves at half-time, having scored one try and put down maybe four or five golden chances, but we were nailed in the second half.”
Despite this, Strang sees hope and fight in his players, typified by a brief melee between the two sides near the final whistle.
Strang said: “There was a wee scrap at the end there but not too much trouble. That and the fact we hung in there tells me a lot about our team.
“There’s a lot of guys playing for the dragon on the jersey. It’s not quite clicking and the confidence isn’t there but there’s no lack of trying and there’s a lot of guys battling for the jersey.
“Every time we come off the pitch I’m proud of the effort and I’m sure more results will come for us and we’ll get the bounce of the ball more at some stage.”
