UAE rugby boss Epeli Lagiloa believes the Shaheens are ready to put on a performance at the Dubai Sevens this weekend.
The all-Emirati squad have had plenty of match practice at the Asian Sevens Series this year, and have now spent almost five months with their new Fijian coach.
Lagiloa admits his players face some tough competition but has tipped them to do well.
The UAERF are fielding two teams, with the ‘A’ team in Pool C of the International Invitation division with The Royals, Deutschland and Templars 7 RFC.
They will kick off their campaign at 09:00 on Friday morning against the Templars on Pitch 5, then they will play Deutschland at noon on Pitch 6 and finish the day on Pitch 5 against the Royals at 15:40.
Lagiloa said: “Our ‘A’ team is in a tough division, but we’re ready. We were in Al Ain at the Eden Park Sevens last Saturday playing against teams like the Jebel Ali Dragons, and the Al Ain Amblers – who have all the Fijian boys – and we scored a few tries. I think we can do well in Dubai.”
The UAE ‘B’ team will be taking part in one of the social leagues.
“We’re fielding two teams because we’re trying to get as many players as possible exposed to a high level of competition. The second team includes the guys who have attended training and the more they’re exposed to these kinds of tournaments, the better.”
The Shaheens are taking advantage of the talented pools of players who are in the UAE this week and Lagiloa has set up a training session for his Shaheen squad with the Fijian team.
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