Ross Mills has stoked the fire ahead of Abu Dhabi Saracens’ visit to 7he Sevens by claiming Ali Thompson’s unbeaten team are not the best side in the Gulf Top Six.
The red and blacks have won seven straight games, already securing a top two finish and with it a place in the West Asia Cup final.
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Dubai Hurricanes coach Mills has praised the Al Ghazal club for the progress made in the four years since they were established, but claims their all-conquering pack deserves most of the credit for their impressive rise this season.
“Sarries are the leaders but they’re not the best team,” Mills stated boldly.
“I think if you took two or three players out of that pack they’re ordinary.
“Sarries play to their strengths but the two best teams are Quins and Doha and, if you’re a rugby purist, you want it to be Quins v Doha final.”
Mills, meanwhile, admitted everyone at Canes is suffering following their 69-7 beating in Qatar last week.
“We tried to play rugby but after they secured a bonus point win after 15 minutes it was damage limitation.
“It was a humbling experience. I’ve never lost by a score as big as that as a coach or player, and I never want to again.
“Lots of people are hurting and everyone at the club is smarting, but training has been good this week and the lads are up for this game.”
Four players not able to travel last week could be back, including Mike Rust, Mike Lancaster, Matt Barr and Greg Thompson.
Matt Hutchins is away for personal reasons so Dougie Steele will return to full-back.
AL AIN AMBLERS v JEBEL ALI DRAGONS
Al Ain Amblers 1sts and Jebel Ali Dragons 2nds head into the UAE Conference Cup final this weekend, both teams keenly aware the Garden City club have choked in back-to-back finals.
Amblers have been in dominant form this season, winning all 10 games in the UAE Conference, scoring 570 points and conceding just 63 in the process.
In January, the 12-team Conference was split into the Top 6 and Bottom 6, with Al Ain claiming another five wins to win the Top 6 and claim a place in the Cup final.
Dragons clinched second spot, losing their last match against Amblers 30-20, the victors claiming home field advantage for the final.
Dragons’ coach Mike Lewis knows his side are going into the final as underdogs, but claims all the pressure will be on Al Ain, who lost the 2013 final to Abu Dhabi Harlequins 2nds and last year’s showpiece to Dubai Hurricanes 2nds.
“We’re looking forward to the game, there’s a buzz around the club and hopefully we can bring back some silverware,” said the Welshman.
“We’ll go there as underdogs and no pressure on us, they’re the ones under pressure after two defeats in the finals.”
Amblers have attracted criticism for their dominance of the Conference in recent seasons, many rivals claiming they should be playing in the Premiership, but Aki says his players haven’t earned that right.
“People thinking we should go up is a bit of a problem, but we haven’t won anything yet, we haven’t won the right to go up,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the Plate final, to determine the champions of the Bottom 6, Dubai Sharks travel to Zayed Sport City on Friday to take on Abu Dhabi Harlequins 2nds.
GULF TOP SIX ROUND-UP
Jeremy Manning admits Abu Dhabi Harlequins need a miracle to achieve their treble dream but says his team is determined to finish the season on a high
Quins are 14 points behind second placed Doha in the Gulf Top Six and the Qatar side need just two points from their remaining three games to guarantee a West Asia Cup final place alongside Saracens.
Despite that, Manning is focused on Quins’ game with Jebel Ali Dragons on Friday. “We need a miracle to make the top two but we’re not really thinking of it like that,” said the New Zealander.
“We’ve been out of the blocks very slow the last two weeks and we need a dominant first half performance.
“We’ve won the second halves in both of our previous games but lost them both, so we need to right those wrongs and I’ve been drilling that into the boys this week,” Manning added.
Doha can seal a top two finish and a place in the cup final with a win at Bahrain, who won for the first time last week at Dragons.
“The mood in the camp has certainly improved this week and hopefully will give us a big boost for the remainder of the season,” said Bahrain press officer Tom Hanratty.
Doha head coach Aaron Palmer was happy with his side’s 69-7 demolition of Dubai Hurricanes.
“We were happy with last week’s win but we are always wary of Bahrain at home and know they’ll be on a high after last week’s result too.”
