Coach wants Dragons to go season unbeaten

Matt Jones - Editor 22:30 14/09/2016
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  • Robbie Cameron.

    Dragons were minutes from inflicting Wanderers’ only defeat of the campaign in March’s Conference final – only to see victory cruelly snatched from their grasp as Sharjah scored the game-winning try with the very last play of the game.

    Dragons were ahead for 73 minutes of the match at Sharjah’s home ground and would have been good value for the win, had they held onto it.

    Cameron is refusing to dwell on the negatives though on the eve of a new season, and is instead challenging his team to use the anguish of their final defeat to fire them to glory.

    “I think the way we lost in the final has made us more hungry this season,” said the Scotsman. “We went on a good run and played particularly well (towards the end of the season) but I think you have to give a lot of credit to Sharjah.

    “They came back and they never gave up. We were 16 points up after 20 minutes and played well. We made some mistakes but our aim now is to go unbeaten. Sharjah are the team we’re after.”

    With the pain of defeat still lingering, it’s forgotten just how well Dragons did last season.

    Cameron was only appointed head coach in January and he orchestrated a seven-game unbeaten run that only came to an end in the final match of the post-Christmas Conference Top 6 competition.

    That result – an 18-3 defeat at the hands of Sharjah – was to prove ominous, although to make the final was impressive considering they finished fourth in the Conference before Christmas, 14 points adrift of Wanderers.

    “I joined Dragons in January and we went a really good roll, we won seven in a row until we met Sharjah,” added Cameron.

    “The team seemed to rally around me rather than me doing anything specific. It wasn’t the magic wand of Robbie Cameron. The boys just turned up to training and we did exceptionally well.”

    In Friday’s other game, Arabian Knights host Dubai Wasps, while two teams expected to compete for the title this year, Abu Dhabi Harlequins 2nds and Dubai Exiles 2nds, clash at Zayed Sports City.

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