Gulf Top Six preview: Abu Dhabi look to pick themselves up against Bahrain

Matt Jones - Editor 10:11 12/03/2015
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  • Bruised egos: Saracens (red and black) admit that last week's first loss of their GT6 campaign has been hard to digest.

    Ali Thompson admits there are plenty of bruised egos at Abu Dhabi Saracens but insists his team must pick themselves up after last week’s first loss of the Gulf Top Six season.

    Sarries lost 31-17 away to Doha, the loss seeing Aaron Palmer’s men go a point above Thompson’s men in the GT6 table.

    That in itself is significant as it means Doha are in pole position to finish top of the standings with one league match remaining.

    Both Sarries and Doha are assured of a place in the West Asia Cup final but, with the final round of GT6 fixtures to come this weekend, whoever finishes top will 

    secure the advantage of a home final.

    Scotsman Thompson said: “There are a few bruised egos and bodies after the last game, but it’s how we pick ourselves up after this that will determine our season.

    “When the top two teams in any sport compete against each other the margins of error are fine and Doha capitalised on our mistakes last week.”

    Going back to the three games the Al Ghazal men won at the end of the UAE Premiership season, Sarries’ winning streak in all competitions had stood at 11.

    Despite the setback, the player/coach knows Sarries must regain their focus quickly otherwise one blip could impact an entire campaign of previous perfection.

    Instead of normal training on Monday night, Thompson revealed that the squad spent 90 minutes analysing video footage of the Doha loss.

    “We got together and went through the video of the game and that was very positive,” he said.

    “This is game 10 and we won’t worry about the possible scenarios of winning and bonus points; for us it’s just business as usual.”

    Bahrain return to Abu Dhabi on the back of arguably their worst GT6 performance last week against Harlequins, when they were well beaten 38-12.

    Press officer and scrum-half Tom Hanratty said: “We spoke last week of the big challenge of attempting to ignore the ‘holiday mode’ and unfortunately the boys were unable to do that against Quins. 

    “The physicality in the tackle area, or lack of, was particularly poor and unless we drastically improve on that this weekend, it could be a pretty painful day. 

    “We probably couldn’t have picked a more difficult assignment for the last game of what – there’s no point in denying – has been a trying and extremely disappointing season.”

    Strang hoping to causean upset win over Doha DRAGONS v DOHA:

    Murray Strang (r) wants to cause a shock against Doha this weekend and remind everyone who Jebel Ali Dragons are.

    Strang is not interested in any sub-plots the Dragons might have a part to play in terms of where the West Asia Cup final is held, but he is glad his team still have a “live” game to play rather than a deadrubber.

    “We’re not worrying about any sub-plots, we just want to win our last game and finish the season on a high,” said the Scotsman 

    “We want to match up with one of the West Asia Cup finalists and if we can put a result on Doha and affect whether they have a home final then so be it.

    “For us, we still have a live game and we can still affect the season and that’s a big motivation for us. 

    “It’s our last game and we’ll definitely give everything we’ve got.”

    Doha ended Abu Dhabi Saracens’ unbeaten GT6 run with a 31-17 win in Qatar last week and know a bonus point win in Jebel Ali this weekend will secure a home West

    Asia Cup final for them against the men from Al Ghazal.

    Canes and Quins left to reflect on season’s gains HARLEQUINS v HURRICANES:

    Despite their season going drastically awry since they were beaten in the UAE Premiership final, Dubai Hurricanes can still reflect on an improved season.

    Defeat to Abu Dhabi Harlequins in October’s Premiership final opened up a wound that Canes have not been able to close.

    However, Canes have already confirmed a fourth place finish in this season’s GT6, a place above where they finished last season.

    Quins have had a disappointingGT6 campaign.

    “There’s still bragging rights to play for and people want to finish as high as possible,” said coach Ross Mills.

    Friday’s hosts Quins also feel the same way. They have already won the Premiership and followed that up by taking the Dubai Sevens title, although their treble dreams were wrecked by an indifferent GT6.

    Assistant coach Scott Clark said: “We want to put in a performance that depicts the sort of season we’ve had.”

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