UAE coach Roelof Kotze aiming for top eight finish in Asian Sevens Series

Matt Jones - Editor 05:41 27/08/2015
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  • Positive: Kotze.

    The UAE travel to China for the opening leg of the Asian Sevens Series next week with the aim of climbing into the top eight of Asia Rugby’s rankings.

    It’s a tall task for Roelof Kotze’s men. They finished last in each of the three legs last year and finished rock bottom of 12 teams in the overall rankings with just three points, eight adrift of the nearest team, Chinese Taipei.

    However, with expatriate players re-introduced to the international sevens fold this season, UAE performance manager Kotze believes they can improve on their current Asia ranking of 11th.

    “I think it can be realistic,” the South African said. “You look at the rankings. Japan and Hong Kong are the top two. South Korea and Sri Lanka make up the top four. Then come the Philippines, Malaysia, China and Chinese Taipei in the top eight. Next it’s Singapore, Thailand, us, then Kazakhstan.

    “We should be able to compete with Chinese Taipei and Malaysia. Last year we pushed Malaysia a few times. We should be somewhere in that region. The top two is consistent but the next six swap around regularly. We can get there, we can do it.”

    The UAE began training earlier this week, days after Kotze returned from the second leg of the Under-20 Asian Sevens Series in Hong Kong, where the UAE finished last of eight teams. The 45-year-old says positivity is still floating throughout the senior UAE camp following an encouraging campaign for the 15-a-side team at May’s Asia Rugby Championship.

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    Many of the same players that beat Chinese Taipei and Thailand and lost to Malaysia by just a point in Division II are set to be involved in the first leg of the Sevens Series with Kotze set to announce his squad on Sunday.

    “We had guys become available since May who couldn’t be available for 15s but want to play sevens,” he said. “They’re top guys too. I think we’ll have the same sort of guys as we had in Malaysia. There’s such a positive vibe in the camp. If they’re available they want to be there. Guys want to be involved.”

    The UAE face a tough task in order to reach their top-eight goal. They have been drawn in Pool A, alongside Hong Kong, one of the top two sides in Asia, as well as the fifth-ranked Philippines, who appeared at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens.

    “We don’t have an easy start, we’re in a tough pool,” admitted Kotze. “Day one starts against Hong Kong, then the Philippines. Both games will be tough and we have to win at least one to reach our target of the top eight. It will be really tough. It’s not an easy pool to get out of, but we will do our best and hopefully come out with some results.”

    The UAE will hold an all day training camp at 7he Sevens Stadium, Dubai, on Friday ahead of the squad announcement on Sunday. The squad will train again on Tuesday before setting off for Qingdao on Thursday.

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