Sarries ready to begin defence of W.A Cup

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  • Bidding for glory: Abu Dhabi Saracens.

    West Asia Cup holders Abu Dhabi Saracens will be looking to the future rather than reminiscing about past success when the next edition kicks off this weekend, according to joint head coach Steve Hamilton.

    Sarries claimed the Middle East’s premier 15-a-side trophy last March after a rollercoaster 26-20 final win in Doha. They begin the defence of their crown at home to Bahrain Friday as the revamped West Asia Championship starts.

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    “We don’t tend to look at the situation like that,” said Hamilton, when asked about the pressure of being champions. “We take each year and competition on its individual merit.

    “But of course, we do take confidence from last year’s success in the West Asia Cup.

    “It’s massively important for us to get off to a winning start against Bahrain. We know it is going to be tough, but we cannot afford to lose this game as the competition will be so tight.

    “We can expect a really tough match and if we don’t play to our best, we can expect to be put to the sword.”

    All six UAE Premiership sides feature in the newly-expanded format rather than in previous years when only the top four qualified for the defunct Gulf Top Six (GT6). They will compete against Doha, Bahrain and Muscat from the Gulf Premiership in a nine-team competition where each meets the others only once instead of clashing home and away.

    The winner will be the club that comes top of the league after eight games, rather than the top two playing a decider in the now-discontinued West Asia Cup final.

    Sarries claimed an uplifting 20-18 victory in the derby against then runaway leaders Abu Dhabi Harlequins – who sit out the opening WAC round because of maintenance work at Jebel Ali Dragons’ ground – in the final weeks of the first part of the UAE Premiership campaign. With Dubai Exiles also competing fiercely on the domestic scene, Hamilton expected an intense battle.

    He said: “We know how tough this West Asia competition is and how well matched all the teams will be.

    “Our victory aganst Abu Dhabi Harlequins will really help us going ahead, as we take a lot of pride from our results against the domestic teams. The likes of ourselves and Dubai Exiles have shown how teams can develop and go on to enjoy success.”

    Opponents Bahrain ended up bottom of the last GT6, but an improved showing in the recent Gulf Premiership saw them finish second behind runaway leaders Doha.

    “Everybody is really excited to get back into it,” said Bahrain back-row Tom Ham. “The points didn’t show very well in last year’s Gulf Top Six, where we lost only one match by more than a 10-point margin.

    “We know even though we were bottom of the league that we can compete very well. We have a couple of new players and hopefully we can build on that.”

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