UAE rugby season excitement mounts as 2017/18 fixtures are announced

Matt Jones - Editor 23:23 23/08/2017
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  • Eagles' Sean Carey.

    Excitement ahead of the new UAE rugby season ratcheted up several notches this week with the announcement of the 2017/18 fixtures.

    The season proper begins in under a month’s time, with the West Asia Premiership, UAE Conference and UAE Community League all getting underway on September 22.

    The two standout fixtures in the top-tier West Asia Premiership will be reigning champions Abu Dhabi Harlequins traveling to Jebel Ali to take on Dragons in a repeat of last season’s superb UAE Premiership final – which Quins won 30-20 to claim an unprecedented quintuple of silverware.

    The other eye-catching fixture is Dubai Exiles’ trip to Sports City to take on newly-established Dubai Eagles. Eagles, eastablished just a matter of weeks ago, have nevertheless seen numbers swell in that time.

    They held their first on-pitch training session earlier this week, with 32 male players registered and 44 in total committed to the club.

    Director of rugby Sean Carey will be going up against his former team, who he left after last season in order to set up the country’s newest club, and he was able to see the irony in coming up against them on opening day.

    “Well, Exiles first up, what are the odds. I hope they go easy on us,” joked Carey, the 29-year-old Irishman who made his UAE bow in May at the Asia Rugby Championship in Kuala Lumpur.

    “Training is good, numbers are building slowly. We had our first pitch session on Monday night so it’s coming along nicely in time for the new season.”

    Former team-mate Durandt Gerber will be looking forward to the new campaign more than most players. The classy South African fly-half endured a nightmarish 2016/17 campaign with Exiles, both individually and collectively.

    Durandt Gerber

    Durandt Gerber

    Exiles, West Asia Premiership and UAE Premiership champions two seasons ago, plummeted in defence of their two titles. Jacques Benade’s men slumped to fifth and fourth-placed finishes respectively to ring in their 50th year on a hollow note.

    Gerber, meanwhile, suffered a separated shoulder on opening day 12 months ago in a narrow win over Doha, ruling him out until January. By the time he returned Exiles’ season was already sliding into mediocrity, so he is determined to right the wrongs of a wretched campaign.

    “I can’t wait for it all to kick off on September 22,” said the 34-year-old – a member of Italy’s pre-Rugby World Cup training squad in 2011.

    “I’m happy the fixtures finally came out and we know what the season will look like. It is definitely an unknown first up with the Eagles coming into the league as nobody really knows who will be paying for them yet or what to expect.

    “But I’m looking forward to playing them in the first game at Sports City, a new team brings new challenges and it will be good to play against an unknown team.”

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