Stevenson admits title beyond Abu Dhabi Harlequins but glad with effort

Matt Jones - Editor 10:09 08/03/2016
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  • Satisfied: Luke Stevenson.

    Despite taking the West Asia Championship season to the final game, Abu Dhabi Harlequins fly-half Luke Stevenson believes his side have left it to late to win this season’s title.

    Stevenson was instrumental in Quins’ 32-24 victory in the top-of-the-table clash with Dubai Exiles on Friday, scoring 22 points with a flawless kicking display as Exiles lost for the first time in the cross-border competition.

    Stevenson was 100 per cent from the tee, converting Brook Keats and Ben Bolger tries in the first half and notching six penalties, with 19 of his tally coming in the first 40 minutes as the hosts raced into a 29-3 interval lead.

    The win puts Quins a point behind Exiles in second, but the Englishman knows his side must rely on Dubai Hurricanes doing them a favour on the final day in two weeks’ time if they are to keep alive their treble dreams.

    “We’ll cross our fingers, but we came into the game knowing even if we won they (Exiles) would probably still win the league,” said

    Stevenson.

    “They’re a quality side and we knew we had to start well, which we haven’t really done this year. We’ve struggled for numbers all year
    unfortunately and we had a few guys out again (against Exiles).”

    Quins were missing some big names, including Matt Smith, Pieter Morton and Max Trimble, with injuries playing a key part in their season, but Stevenson is pleased his side at least took the West Asia Championship to the final stage.

    “They have to go to Hurricanes on the final week and they gave us a good game, we were very lucky to beat them, so hopefully they can do us a favour and we can snatch it,” added Stevenson, who also feels Quins can use victory to triumph in the UAE Premiership, which returns at the end of the month.

    “Our aim at the start of the season was to win all three (Premiership, Dubai Sevens and West Asia Championship). We’ve got the sevens, unfortunately maybe this might be away from us, but we’ll look to the Premiership and we know we can beat any team on our day.

    “We’ll do what we can and we’ve got the squad. Hopefully we’ll do alright.”

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