Roelof Kotze says his UAE national team and the developing Emirati Shaheen players are showing clear signs of progress, despite suffering disappointment at the Dubai Sevens on Friday.
– VIDEO: Day One action at the Dubai Rugby Sevens
The UAE sevens squad endured three defeats on the trot, two on Thursday and one yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Shaheen team also lost all three of their games on Thursday, with indiscipline robbing them of a chance to gauge just how far they’ve come.
However, South African Kotze was encouraged by the national side in their losses to Cairo RFC (12-5), Exeter Baa Baa’s (34-5) and Eagles Invitational (33-0) in the International Open competition.
#Dubai7s Match 36 : Gulf Under 18 Boys Trophy Semi Final BSAK (5) vs D.E.S.C. (17) : #descdubai @descdubai http://t.co/8z2ooPtRzl
— EK #Dubai7s Results (@Dubai7sResults) December 6, 2014
“Exeter were always going to be a little too much for us, but against Cairo, we were disappointing,” he said.
“We were on the attack to win the game, conceded a turnover and they scored to clinch the game we should have won.”
However, he’s definitely seen signs of improvement from the first tournament of the season in Amsterdam six months ago.
“We’ve competed and that’s a good start. We’re definitely progressing together,” he added.
After Dubai, Kotze’s sights are set on the Olympic Games qualifier in Chennai, India in March.
“We want to be in the qualifiers for as a long as we can. We need to win that to get into the Asian circuit. We have clear objectives, we’re working towards that, and the guys have bought into that.”
