Dubai Exiles meet Abu Dhabi Harlequins in the biggest game of the UAE Premiership season this Friday, but off-the-field issues are dominating the build-up to the title-decider.
Quins wanted to switch the date of the crunch clash as a host of players, coaches and officials travelled to South Africa to attend the wedding of former first team player and current vets captain and club vice chairman David Stolzenberg on Monday.
Many remain away and the two clubs have failed to come to an agreement over the rescheduling of the fixture despite weeks of negotiating.
Exiles say they have tried to accommodate Quins’ wishes but that alternative dates suggested would have left them severely depleted.
Consequently, the game will go ahead on Friday at The Sevens as originally planned.
Rinus Bothma is missing for Exiles this week
“It’s such a shame that what should be a major match and the climax of the season has come to this, especially as we beat them twice this season and narrowly lost the West Asia Championship (WAC) by a point,” said Quins chairman Andy Cole, one of the club’s party attending the wedding in South Africa.
“It’s not good for the league, the sponsors, or UAE Rugby really, but it’s in the rules and that’s that.
“We knew back in January there was going to be an issue and the club captain wrote to the Exiles and followed up on several occasions but Exiles would not change.
“We offered alternative midweek dates in Dubai but nothing. It escalated to the committee in February and I wrote to their chairman explaining the issue and that a date had been unblocked in March to see if we could rearrange but again after speaking to his coach the answer was no.
Quins’ centre William Umu was key in Quins’ win in the WAC against Exiles a few weeks ago
“Our main concern is front row. With Mike Ballard and Trevor Scott-Briggs’ past spinal injuries we do not want a repeat so that was a concern.”
The dates suggested by Quins included a WAC mid-season break Friday on March 11 or April 15, a week after the scheduled end of the club season.
That clashed with an Exiles end-of-season function while several players are due to be away.
“I know for a fact we were trying to be as accommodating as we could. Hopefully they will see that,” said Exiles director of rugby, Jacques Benade.
“On April 15 we’ve got players away. They wanted to play a midweek game then we had a weekend free but we’d already played six or seven weeks in a row.
“We just didn’t think it was right to play, you could get injuries, and we’d already given the boys the week off. We didn’t train at all that week.
“Do we want to weaken our team so they can then put out their strongest team? There’s a balance that needs to be met. First of all you need to look at your own club and what’s going to be important for us. But we also did our best to accommodate them and it just hasn’t worked.”
The war off the field is intensified by the fact the clubs have been battling each other on the field throughout the season. Exiles have lost just two games from 16 in 2015-16, both of those defeats coming against Mike McFarlane’s men.
Despite inflicting a 32-24 defeat on Exiles a month ago, their first in the West Asia Championship, Exiles claimed the title ahead of Quins on the final day.
Even though the game will go ahead as originally planned, Benade will still be without two influential players, including flanker Matt Mills and second-row Rinus Bothma, both of whom have been key components of Exiles’ impressive pack this season.
Rugby Match, Exiles vs Quins, in 3, March at Zayed Sports City
“Mike’s not the only one losing players, we’ve got players away too. It’s holiday time so all your teachers are away, so we’re in the same situation as them,” added Benade.
“They have players away at a wedding. We’ll be without two or three players, so it’s not easy.
“The fixture list is out from September so they’ve probably known about the wedding for a while and there were weekends in January and February where we had weekends off that the game should have been pushed to.
“Both teams may be a bit weakened, but that makes the contest even better.
“We have been accommodating, there’s no doubt about it. We’ve tried to change it. We know how important a wedding is for someone and everyone wants this game to be a massive game.
“We want our team to be as strong as we can and they want their team to be as strong as they can and that’s what it’s all about. Two competitive teams will be playing on Friday.”
