Jacques Benade, the UAE coach, is calling for improvement from his side after they made a false start to the Asia Rugby Championship (ARC) in defeat to Hong Kong.
The national team had entered the tournament on a wave of optimism. They finished second last year for the first time in their history.
That was the incentive for a vastly improved programme as they prepared for this year’s ARC, which carries with it a qualifying place for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
They played two Autumn Test matches, against Zimbabwe and Germany, and preceded this tournament with a tour to Kenya. Hopes were high that they could push for top spot, and a trip to Australia for the World Cup.
But Hong Kong are the favourites for qualification for good reason. They have won the past five ARCs. Previous to that, they were runners up four years in a row against Japan, who have since switched from Asian competition to play more fixtures against Tier 1 nations.
And Hong Kong showed their class straight from the off, as they outplayed the home side in a 43-10 at The Sevens, Dubai, on Saturday.
The difference in quality was laid bare at set pieces. The UAE were penalised at the vast majority of scrums, while the tourists established the lead via two push over tries from line outs.
The frustration for the home side was the fact there were positive moments which showed they could compete with their well-drilled visitors.
They made an alarmingly nervy start, but Gerard Pieterse, the debutant full-back, snapped them into action with a crunching, try-saving tackle on Alexander Post, the Hong Kong hooker.
Brad Janes, the Jebel Ali Dragons flanker who was outstanding on his UAE debut, scored the try his performance deserved.
The UAE were within touching distance at that point, at 15-10. When they then botched a golden chance to go into half-time 22-17 behind with an attacking scrum underneath Hong Kong’s posts, the game went away from them.
“We are all disappointed,” Benade, the UAE coach, said. “Looking at the boys in the dressing room, their heads were down, and I don’t think we played as well as we could.
“We are better than that. Given how hard we work for everything, that was just not good enough for us. We should be better, and there will be a lot of hard work this week.
“We need to be honest with ourselves, and there are no more excuses. We need to step up as a group and play better rugby next week.”
The national team travel to Incheon to face South Korea next Saturday. Their ambitions will likely now be revised down to a runners-up place, which would keep alive their World Cup qualification hopes.
The second placed side in the ARC will enter a play-off system which concludes with a week-long tournament in Dubai in November. The winner of that will also make it to the World Cup.
The Koreans began their tournament with a thrilling 38-34 win against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday. Benade knows a big improvement needs to be made if they are to take points in Incheon, particularly at scrum time.
“They [Hong Kong] were very good up front,” Benade said. “They will have known from last year we do put an emphasis on our scrums. It was something that didn’t work tonight and we have three sessions to fix that.
“We have seen that if you can’t get good set-piece ball, you can’t play rugby. From the start, we made mistakes. From the kick off, we couldn’t get the ball away.
“It was completely different to what we have been practising over the past five weeks, and then you realise the boys are under pressure.
“It is hard work, and we need to get it fixed. We need to get them to believe they can compete against boys like that.
“They are a very good side, but we showed what could happen when you put them under pressure.”
Joshua Hrstich, the Hong Kong captain, said his side were satisfied with their opening day win, in which they ran in six tries to one by the UAE.
“We are pretty excited to get out of the desert with maximum [points] and get our campaign off to a good start,” Hrstich said.
“Pressure is a privilege. We are taking this tournament one game at a time. You just have to watch the Korea-Sri Lanka game to see that everyone is dangerous. We are taking no one lightly.”
