Quins lift UAE Premiership rugby title

Matt Jones - Editor 05:43 01/11/2014
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  • Abu Dhabi Harlequins celebrate victory in the UAE Premiership final.

    Abu Dhabi Harlequins have been crowned UAE Premiership champions after a deserved 39-19 victory in the final over Dubai Hurricanes.

    In a bruising and full-blooded spectacle, Quins were the better side throughout.

    Manning’s Harlequins go above and beyond in final

    They allied some brilliant attacking rugby in the first half with the laser-beam precision of Jeremy Manning’s boot in the second half to keep Canes at bay and cap an unbelievable first part of the season.

    After two games of this season’s Premiership, Quins looked they would be lucky to finish inside the top four and make the Gulf Top Six competition which gets underway in the new year.

    Led by talismanic player-coach Manning though, they won their next three straight games to make the final against Canes, who despite topping the table, were always second best at 7he Sevens last night.

    Although there is still the Dubai Sevens and GTS to come this season, it’s already been a bit of a fairytale for the cinderella men from the capital. 

    Even Manning and his troops must have thought they would be the ugly sisters after losing to Canes and last year’s champions Jebel Ali Dragons in their opening two games by a combined score of three points.

    But, sport has a way of making miracles out of misery, and so it proved on Canes’ own turf on Friday.

    The game started in ferocious fashion and Quins laid down an early marker with a try after four minutes, South African Reineer Els bulldozing his way through the last man to crash over.

    Manning was pin-point with the conversion, a sign of things to come from the Kiwi.

    Matt Hawley, the league’s top try scorer, has been a revelation on the wing in his debut season, and he took his tally to six with Quins’ second try, skipping down the line to score in the corner.

    Despite hugging the touchline, it really wasn’t a surprise that Manning nailed the conversion.

    Canes made a fight of it and their own driving force, Andy Powell, went over before the break to keep his side in the hunt at 20-8 adrift, but Manning potted his second of six successive penalties to always leave Quins in the ascendancy.

    The second half was more disjointed, with a serious-looking injury to Canes substitute prop Gareth Noonan holding up proceedings for some time.

    Even before that, the second half had been far flatter, with Canes looking like their wind had long since been sucked out of them.
    Powell and Manning traded further penalties, but the closest the team playing on their own ground got to feeling familiar was a nine point gap to Quins.

    A third try from Graham Murphy at the death rubbed further salt into Canes’ already gaping wounds.

    They are now left to pick up the pieces from a second successive UAE Premiership final that has left them with nothing but shattered dreams. 

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