UAE rugby performance manager Apollo Perelini has told his players to forget that they are playing this weekend’s second leg of the Asia Rugby Development Sevens Series on home soil and put all their energy into winning.
The UAE are number one seeds for the Al Ain Sevens, but fell to a disappointing fourth-place finish at the Chennai Sevens last weekend.
Former Samoa dual code international Perelini is hoping to secure top spot and with it an automatic place in the Asia Rugby Sevens Series taking place later this year.
“Playing at home doesn’t make a difference, maybe for some of the players it does, but I’d still want to win if I was playing in a car park anywhere in the world,” said Perelini, who replaced South African Roelof Kotze as UAE performance manager last October.
“Having home advantage doesn’t mean anything to me, it’s about performing.
“I’ve made a few changes. A few players who weren’t available last week have come in and our aim is to reverse last weekend’s result and win the tournament. If we win we still have a chance to qualify. The key is playing well and fixing what we didn’t do last week.”
The UAE opened last week with big wins against Nepal (41-0) and Syria (69-5) but lost 24-14 to the Philippines.
They beat India 38-7 on day two to qualify for the Cup semi-finals, but lost in the last four 22-10 to Thailand, before losing the third/fourth-place playoff 38-21 to the Philippines. “We’re trying to get things back in order and we’re still optimistic, definitely,” said Perelini.
“Sevens is a cruel world. There’s only a short time so once you’re on the back foot, you lose momentum. Before you know it the whistle goes.
“We had a chance to win it last week, but we didn’t take our opportunities.”
Out of the squad go Jebel Ali Dragons duo Ian Overton and Munier Kenny, as well as Dubai Exiles youngster Ryan Rapallo and the UAE Shaheen’s Mohammed Ali.
They will be replaced by Hareb Al Azri, Abu Dhabi Harlequins’ Adel Al Hendi and Abu Dhabi Saracens’ duo Hassan Al Noobi and Jaen Botes. Ryno Fourie admitted Perelini had not minced his words at training this past week.
“Everyone in the team is desperate for the win and so much more at home,” said the Jebel Ali Dragons’ back.
“Apollo was pretty hard on the boys and he made a lot of changes in the team.”
Captain Niall Statham said this might be his final international outing as he and his wife are expecting a second child, and he is determined to end his UAE career on a winning note.
“We’re desperate to give a strong showing this weekend,” said the Scotsman, also a Dragons player.
“It’s potentially my last tournament so I hope I can lead the team to something special if that’s to be the case.”
