Quins won't underestimate Kandy

Matt Jones - Editor 01:29 06/09/2016
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  • Quins' Sam Bolger in action in the 23-23 draw with Dubai Exiles

    Mike McFarlane insists the Asia Rugby Western Clubs Champions League title is far from a two-horse race and is concerned by the lack of respect being shown towards Sri Lankan champions Kandy.

    McFarlane’s Abu Dhabi Harlequins played out a thrilling 23-23 draw with fierce UAE rivals Dubai Exiles during the tournament’s opening game on Friday, with many suggesting the tournament crown will go to whichever team can beat the Sri Lankans by the biggest margin in the ensuing two matches of the tournament.

    Quins host Kandy at Zayed Sports City tonight before the Sri Lankan side travel to Dubai to take on reigning West Asia and UAE Premiership champions Exiles at The Sevens on Friday.

    And McFarlane is concerned by the threat posed by tonight’s dangerous opponents, as well as the lack of respect shown towards them.

    “In terms of Kandy, we played over there last year on a tour, they were fantastic hosts and great people,” said McFarlane.

    “They are an excellent team and it worries me the disrespect they’re being shown, with people writing them off before they’ve even played and saying the title is between who out of us and Exiles will beat them by the most points.

    Quins and Exiles played out a thriller in the opening game of the Western Clubs Champions League on Friday

    Quins and Exiles played out a thriller in the opening game of the Western Clubs Champions League on Friday

    “That’s disrespectful. They’ve got some good players, they have some big forwards and some incredibly talented sevens lads in the back division.

    “They’re going to be hard to contain. With our systems in attack and defence we hope to come out with a positive result.

    “We’d never go into any game seeing how many points we could put on a team. It’s about earning that and that will come from sticking to our structures.”

    Winning is woven into Quins’ DNA and while McFarlane claims he and his players want to lift the pre-season tournament trophy, his focus is very much on their preparations for the new domestic UAE rugby season. That kicks off with Quins, the reigning Dubai Sevens champions, visiting old foes Dubai Hurricanes in the first round of the West Asia Premiership on September 23.

    “It’s about the stage of the season where we’re at,” he added.

    “It’s about the performance

    rather than the result. But being a big club we always expect a win, winning is a habit and we try to get that ball rolling and we’ve got the tools to do it.

    “We’re not used to losing. It’s about lads getting minutes under their belts. We’ll have a few boys playing in different positions so I can have a bit of a look at them.

    “It’s about developing things we worked on for Friday and improving so that when the season comes around we’re firing.”

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