Jebel Ali Dragons 7 Abu Dhabi Harlequins 35
Dragons Try: Van der Westhuizen; Con: Russell
Harlequins Tries: Geraghty, Umu, S Bolger, Trimble, Arias; Cons: Stevenson, Smith; Pens: Stevenson, Smith
Man of the match Brian Geraghty (Abu Dhabi Harlequins)
DUBAI // Two wins from two matches. A combined aggregate of 58 points for and just 10 conceded. And that against the two clubs who were rated the best in West Asia over the past two seasons.
What will Abu Dhabi Harlequins be like when they finally do find top gear?
Without even playing with any great fluency of their own, the side from the capital ran in five tries to one against Jebel Ali Dragons at the Centre of Excellence.
Brian Geraghty, Willy Umu, Sam Bolger, Max Trimble and Agustin Arias all scored in a win that reinforced the view Quins are the team to beat in the UAE Premiership this season.
READ MORE:
– New kits, new coach, same result for Abu Dhabi Harlequins in UAE Premiership opener
– Abu Dhabi Harlequins and Abu Dhabi Saracens have their eyes on UAE Premiership prize
It was also a neat way to celebrate the arrival of Madison McFarlane, the baby daughter of coach Mike, who was born this week.
“To see guys like Mike and Rory Greene, our manager, working so hard when it is an amateur club, contributes to that buzzing atmosphere,” said Phil Abraham, the Quins captain.
“Mike had his kid two days ago, his birthday was yesterday, and he is still down here today. The commitment you see from everybody – the players and the coaching staff – is inspirational.
“There is a good vibe happening at the club. There is a family culture running through the club, and that helps with our mentality on the field.
“We feel like we are not going on all cylinders yet. It is encouraging to know that in spite of that, we are still pulling out the results.”
In winning back-to-back trebles in 2013 and 2014, the Dragons had tormented Harlequins.
They have some substantial catching up to do between now and the time this season’s prizes are handed out on this evidence, though.
“It has been really disappointing first couple of weeks,” said Ross Samson, the Dragons captain, after a second successive defeat.
“Quins are a good side, they ran away with it in the second half. I can’t really fault the effort of our boys. We get good numbers down to training, train really hard.
“We know it works, we know the systems work, we just need to execute it. There have been too many individual, unforced errors.
“It will come. It is not like the quality is not there. We have really good players, some good guys joined us during the summer. We just have to get back to the drawing board.”
pradley@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
