Head coach Mike Pugsley is wiping the slate clean as he ushers in a new era at Xodus Wasps.
The Welshman previously coached Sharjah Wanderers for four years before taking the reins of the Dubai club in July after a truly disastrous 2014-15 season, one which saw them relegated from the UAE Premiership.
Despite their various woes, the 30-year-old is hoping to take Wasps straight back to the top tier of domestic rugby, and is buoyant ahead of the new UAE Conference campaign, which begins at home to another club high on ambition, Dubai Sharks, on September 25.
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“Promotion is the end game, absolutely,” said Pugsley.
“You have to aim high. The players understand that. They’re not going out to play to come third or fourth in the league. They want to win.
“That’s the reason why I’ve gone there too. It’s shared ambitions between all of us. There’ll be a bit of pressure coming down from the Premiership, there’ll be a bit of expectation but I think that’s good. The players will understand that.
“This year the main thing is to establish ourselves in the league, but if we’re in the top six we’ll push on with the mindset of having the intention to win it.”
Last season began badly for Wasps when they were stung by a Dh10,000 fine from the UAE Rugby Federation before a ball had even been kicked, penalized for failing to send a member of staff on a medical course.
After that, their decline was steep and rapid, losing five straight games in the Premiership and finishing rock bottom of the post-Christmas Gulf Conference, below Dubai Exiles, Doha 2nds and Muscat.
.@xoduswaspsrugby set to get their buzz back following appointment of head coach Mike Pugsley http://t.co/6nD8q7E7Fv pic.twitter.com/z5Yow6XRnf
— Sport360° (@Sport360) July 16, 2015
A second run-in with the UAE RF saw their second team disqualified from the Conference for forfeiting a number of games.
Newport native Pugsley, however, isn’t concerned by what occurred last season. He’s only interested in moving forward.
“It’s a new era. We sat down as a coaching and management group at the first training and that’s the impression I got from them. They want to be moving forward,” he said.
“Last year, whatever has gone on has gone on. Let’s wipe the slate clean. We have a new coaching team, a new training venue, and we want to start afresh and kick on from there. It should be good.”
Pugsley, a teacher at Dubai English College, had planned to take a break from coaching after leaving Sharjah, but said he was tempted by the challenge facing him at Wasps.
“My intention was to have a year out as I’d been coaching for nine years over here and back home, so I just fancied a bit of a break,” he said.
Wasps train on Monday nights at GEMS Metropole School, Motor City, Dubai, from 19:30.
