Perelini confident of UAE's ability

Matt Jones - Editor 12:54 10/08/2016
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  • Apollo Perelini takes his side to Singapore this weekend.

    Apollo Perelini has just led the UAE back into the second tier of Asia rugby, but he is adamant his team have the ability to compete at the top alongside Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea.

    The New Zealander took over as UAE Rugby’s performance manager last October from Roelof Kotze and his side stormed to the Asia Rugby Championship Division II title in May with colossal victories against Uzbekistan (63-13) and Thailand (70-18).

    They will face Malaysia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines in Division I next year but a positive Perelini is already thinking of the bigger picture and a return to the top tier ARC.

    “We want to win Division I so we can challenge for the top three. If we beat whoever is at the bottom of the top three then we jump into the top three,” Perelini said, speaking at a UAE Rugby Federation media day in Dubai on Tuesday.

    “(South) Korea are the only team that stand in the way of the UAE being in the top three. They’re the weakest of Japan, Hong Kong and themselves.”

    The UAE narrowly missed out on promotion to Division I in 2015, a 20-19 defeat to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur seeing the hosts go up at their expense. Malaysia then won the Division I title, again on home soil, in May, but decided not to enter a playoff with Korea – who finished bottom of the top-three competition.

    Perelini added: “The squad we took to Uzbekistan was very strong. The 70-18 result against Thailand was a reflection of the strength of the team we had. And we can be better. We’re going to be a lot stronger next year.

    “It’s interesting because we got up to Division 1 and Malaysia, who beat us by one point last year, were outright winners this year with the exact same team as last year, according to their coach.”

    The confidence of the former Samoa dual code rugby star is admirable and sure to excite his players and UAE rugby supporters, but it remains a tall task. The last time the UAE featured in Asia’s top tier, they conceded an aggregate 245 points in four defeats, scoring just 28, in what was then known as the Asian Five Nations.

    The UAE were hammered 93-3 by now England coach Eddie Jones’ Japan at The Sevens Stadium. They also suffered defeats against Korea (75-10), Hong Kong (53-7) and the Philippines (24-8).

    However, Perelini is buoyed by the fact he has better players now available, larger numbers as well as the fact the standard of the domestic is the highest it’s ever been.

    “We want to be up there and if we keep going the way we are we can be up there. We can get into the top three,” said the 47-year-old. “I was asked on radio back in New Zealand are my players professionals. Maybe not in rugby terms. Hong Kong are a little different as their players are centrally contracted.

    “We’re not in that position but can we still compete with them, absolutely. We’ve got the cohort of players who are good enough. The amount of players that have already contacted me to say they’re available (for next year), it’s going to make it interesting.

    “There’s a lot of them, and a lot of the top players are making themselves available and more will become eligible.”

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