UAE end Asian Rugby C'ship campaign with win over Chinese Taipei

Matt Jones - Editor 20:45 16/05/2015
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  • The UAE needed to win to secure their place in Division II.

    The UAE signed off from their tour to Malaysia with a hard earned 16-12 win over Chinese Taipei, though Roelof Kotze’s men will wonder what might have been.

    Triumph in their third and final match was tinged with regret as a 46-point win for Malaysia over Thailand secured their promotion to Division I at the UAE’s expense.

    Despite failing to bounce back to the second tier of Asian rugby at the first attempt, following relegation in 2014, the UAE will still take plenty of positives away from the Far East, not least the fact the win secured their Division II status.

    Defeat would have seen the UAE suffer back to back relagations and a campaign in Division III.

    “The game was played in extremely difficult conditions and having three players off the pitch with yellows showed how deep we had to dig to grind out a win,” said captain Adam Telford.

    “The atmosphere is very positive and although we didn’t win all three there are a lot of pluses to take away from this tournament.

    “There is a buzz back about UAE rugby and the foundations are now set for next year. We have a great set of guys who will hopefully be involved next year.”

    The UAE held their nerve in monsoon conditions to claim a gritty win, despite the fact Taipei knocked on with the try-line at their mercy with what proved to be the last action of the game. Referee Charlie Brown blowing the final whistle after the move broke down.

    The game at the Stadium Petaling Jaya in Kuala Lumpur was preceded by heavy thunderstorms, with the fear of lightning threatening the game’s completion in the early stages.

    With the game underway, it was the UAE that struck first after Jebel Ali Dragons centre Michael Botha collected 30 metres out and handing off two defenders before touching down.

    Matt Hutchings failed to convert and Taipei went on to score two tries through flanker Wei-Ming Lin and Lun-Wei Chang, the second converted by Yuan-Che Hsueh, to hand them a 12-5 lead.

    Hassan Al Noobi’s penalty reduced the deficit to 12-8 at the interval but the odds were stacked against the UAE when first Niall Statham and then Phil Brady were sin-binned in quick succession.

    Despite being down to 13 men, the UAE regained the advantage when their most capped player, Chris Jones-Griffiths, crashed over from a lineout maul. Another missed conversion meant they could not go further ahead but at 13-12 Kotze’s men had their noses in front.

    Al Noobi’s second penalty stretched that advantage to four, with the UAE withstanding heavy pressure thereafter. A scrappy affair then saw two Taipei players yellow carded and Andrew Carphin became the third UAE player sin-binned.

    Although there will be disappointment, the late knock-on at least secured their status next season, while Kotze’s charges will perhaps look on another season in Division II as a blessing in disguise.

    “The game was tough. We started well but let them back in through some errors. The conditions played a part but we managed to grind out the result,” said Jones-Griffiths.

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