Duncan Hall, the UAE Rugby Association’s (UAERA) new performance manager is still settling into life in Dubai. The 55-year-old former Australia international, tasked with building the fledgling union into a force on the Asian rugby scene, admits he often finds himself wandering the streets near his hotel transfixed by the city’s bright lights.
It is that inquisitive nature that has taken Hall on a somewhat nomadic coaching career path from his native Brisbane, to Leicester in the English Premiership, a stint as head coach of the USA, and prior to taking the reins in the Emirates, Indonesia. It should come as no surprise therefore to hear that Hall is attracted to “interesting places” but far from being on a jolly, the 15-times capped forward believes his experiences can benefit the UAE.
“I’m lucky I’ve had exposure across a broad cross-section,” he explains. “What I would say is, whether you’re at the top end of the professional coaching ranks, or doing what we’re doing here, or coaching a club side or a kids’ side is that you’re still dealing with people. You’ve got to get to know them, you’ve got to understand them, you’ve got to have a broader look at their life and then you’ve got to be demanding, because to get where we want to get to is not easy.”
Hall’s inability to drive has meant he’s got to know some of his players a bit better than might have been expected in just over three weeks, as he has relied on lifts from his new charges to get around the city. And while he has been impressed with the attitude and dedication of a number of his players, especially those who commit to travelling to national team training sessions from Abu Dhabi every week, it has not taken him long to put his finger on the problems facing the UAE – the volatility of his player pool.
“Where the UAE can be depends on how long you keep your players because of the transient nature of the player,” Hall said. “People get old and they leave. Hopefully, in that evolution a few of the Emirati guys will actually filter up through, so we can integrate both long-term expat type players and Emirati players.
“The vision in years to come would be Emiratis playing. Whether that is a realistic view, that could take a long time but short-term sevens is going to be the main vehicle of development of basic skills and the aim would be to get them qualified into the Asian Games of 2014.”
The UAE took another sizeable step in the direction of the 2014 games in Incheon as their development side, the Shaheen – made up almost entirely of Emiratis – took part in the Bangkok Sevens earlier this month. It proved to be a rewarding experience as Hall’s side came away with two wins over the two days, against Laos and the Philippines, and a piece of silverware in the form of the Shield. It also gave the players an insight into where they need to improve:
“After we played Pakistan (a 29-12 Bowl semi-final defeat) everyone was out on their feet and I said ‘look, guys our fitness is letting us down here’. Luckily, we had a good rest and recouped for the last game.” Hall added: “It was just good for them to win games, it was good for them to have to play not necessarily well but play against adversity and then scramble and get points and get success, because they haven’t had that.”
Hall has been given a mandate with the UAE that would intimidate many coaches. As UAERA CEO Ian Bremner revealed at the Australian’s unveiling, alongside coaching the national 15s and sevens sides, Hall will be required to create “performance pathways” for emerging talent to reach those squads.
For a union that is barely one year old, that means implementing age-group programmes underneath the national sevens, 15s and Shaheen squads, which at the moment just don’t exist. It was that side of the role that attracted Hall to the job in the first place though it seems.
“When I coached America, I was the national coach and all I dealt with was just that,” he said. “We had five games a year, and in between time it was decentralised so you spent time trying to find players, and then once you found them you couldn’t really train. You only prepared to play a Test a few days before you actually played because of the geography and the cost of travel.
“There was nothing underneath it, so there were these 30 guys up here and then nothing else. “So, part of this position is dealing with after school leavers and whatever development we make in there. Under-19s/20s sides eventually and then you’ve got the women’s part of the portfolio that will come, and then the sevens and 15s and then you’ve got the Shaheen as well. So, you’ve got a whole stack of, not necessarily layers, but you’re creating this expectation pathway. There’s more to do, there’s more meat in the position, and you still coach.”
