Apollo Perelini looking forward to Asia Rugby Test series

Matt Jones - Editor 08:17 29/02/2016
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  • New captain: Niall Statham.

    It may be a few months away but Apollo Perelini is already casting an eye to the international 15s season and the Asia Rugby Test series.

    Perelini is looking to build on the good progress the UAE made in the Asia Rugby Championship (ARC) last year, having enjoyed wins against Chinese Taipei and Thailand during May’s Malaysia tour, with their only blip being a 20-19 defeat to the host country.

    That saw Malaysia promoted to Division I of the Championship at the UAE’s expense, with Perelini’s men this season scheduled to face Thailand again as well as Singapore, who were relegated from Division I, and Guam, promoted from Division III.

    Perelini was drafted in as forwards coach last year and believes the depth of talent at his disposal will be even better in 2016.

    “We’ve got about 40 players who are eligible and we want to build on what we achieved last year,” said the former dual code Samoan star. “The great thing is the players we have available are all from the UAE Premiership, so we’ll be picking the best 25 from there for the first time, which is extremely encouraging for the UAE.

    “The Premiership is at a higher standard than it has been in previous years, so to pick 25 out of 40, it’s going to be a tough job for me to choose a team. I’ve been out watching players and there’s a lot of them putting their hands up.”

    Domestically, the season concludes on April 8, but Perelini says preparations for the international season will begin shortly.

    “We’ll look to start preparing for that in the next two or three weeks,” he said of this season’s ARC, which will be played in Uzbekistan. “I’ll look to pick a training squad and take it from there. I’m looking forward to it and so are the players.”

    Abu Dhabi Harlequins winger Chris Marshall became eligible for the UAE last year, while talismanic clubmate Ben Bolger is also expected to be available to Perelini in the coming months.

    Following their narrow 24-22 defeat in the Al Ain Sevens final to Chinese Taipei, several players from the shortened format will also be in contention for the 15s squad and sevens captain Niall Statham, who made his 15s debut on last year’s Malaysia tour, is excited about the UAE’s prospects.

    “A lot of this team will look ahead to the 15s and hopefully we can take these lessons from the sevens and use them to keep growing rugby in the country and get UAE rugby up to where it deserves to be and where it can be,” said the Jebel Ali Dragons flanker.

    “My first involvement was last year, we finished sixth in the ARSS and got to the (Al Ain) final, so people are taking note of UAE rugby. It’s on the up. More and more players are becoming eligible all the time, so hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”

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