Abu Dhabi Saracens v Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Saracens welcome Jebel Ali Dragons to Al Ghazal on Friday, but Thompson says his Sarries do not fear the visitors, who have looked a shadow of the side that won the treble last season.
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Dragons have already lost two of their trophies from the 2013/14 campaign, deposed as UAE Premiership champions by Abu Dhabi Harlequins who then went on to set up their own treble tilt by triumphing at the Dubai Sevens in December.
Dragons didn’t even make the Premiership final and scraped into the Gulf Top Six while they didn’t ever really look like retaining their Sevens crown as they were dumped out of the Gulf Men’s League Trophy at the quarter-final stage by Dubai Hurricanes.
Friday’s game is a repeat of the final Premiership league game of the season, when Thompson’s Sarries snapped Dragons’ hold on the Premiership crown with an emphatic 32-6 win. That game was also at Al Ghazal and Thompson admits the hosts have no fear ahead of Friday.
“We’re very aware of the task at hand, but we gathered momentum toward the end of the Premiership season and beat the Dragons in our last game so we don’t fear them. They’re the champions but they’re there for the taking,” said the Scotsman.
As will be the case with most teams in the opening week of the competition, Sarries are missing one or two players, with full-back Dougie Steele and centre Steve Hamilton both away for personal issues.
Bahrain v Dubai Hurricanes
Dubai Hurricanes chairman Simon Lewis is desperate to bring back a piece of silverware to 7he Sevens Stadium this season, but believes treble-chasing Abu Dhabi Harlequins will be the team to beat in the Gulf Top Six.
Canes enjoyed a largely impressive Sport360° UAE Premiership campaign, but despite finishing top of the table, they were blown away in the Premiership final by a mightily impressive Quins 39-19.
Lewis believes Canes have the quality to win the competition.
“They have every right to bring some silverware home but it’s going to be hard. We would like to give Quins a better fight than we did in the Premiership final but it’s safe to say they’re the team to look out for,” said Lewis.
Despite his claim, Lewis says the quality of rugby in the UAE and Gulf is increasing rapidly and is looking forward to an interesting campaign.
“We’ll also have to watch out for Abu Dhabi Saracens who are a rising force, while Doha got to the final of the Sevens and Dragons will be licking their wounds too,” said Lewis.
Bahrain are led by coach Mike Reid, who guided Jebel Ali Dragons to the Gulf title in 2013.
Doha v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Despite the fact whispers about the treble have already turned into a booming chorus of expectation, Abu Dhabi Harlequins are not looking beyond Friday’s opening Gulf Top Six game against Doha.
The game will be a repeat of the Gulf Men’s League Trophy final at last month’s Dubai Sevens, which the Quins won comfortably 27-5.
Wingers Adel Al Hendi and William Umu, who enjoyed a storming Sevens with a bagful of tries, are both missing, while Quins’ pack will be without a host of heavy-hitters, including flankers Renier Els and Charlie Farmer and lock Anthony Murphy and brother Graham, who is a prop.
Asked about whether Quins are targeting the treble, full-back Jeremy Manning played it down.
“We’re not looking too much into the future. The Gulf Top Six is the longest competition of the season and the hardest and we’re a long way from the end of it. A lot can happen in the next 10 weeks.”
Doha couldn’t be heading into the competition in any better form, having won six games out of six in their pre-Christmas tournament of the Gulf Premiership, beating Muscat, Kuwait and fellow Gulf Top Six representatives, Bahrain.
