ABU DHABI // Abu Dhabi Harlequins are making a serious signal of intent ahead of the UAE Premiership season, having travelled to Sri Lanka to play the country’s champion club this weekend.
Overseas pre-season tours are a rarity in domestic rugby, and Quins’ trip to Sri Lanka’s hill country might have ramifications across Abu Dhabi, too.
The capital’s oldest club have a fixture lined up against Kandy, the side who will themselves be heading to the UAE next weekend for the first West Asia Champions League.
In that new competition, they will be pitted against Abu Dhabi Saracens, the Arabian Gulf’s No 1 team, as well as Doha and Olymp, the 2014 champions of Kazakhstan.
While Saracens are hoping to get a steer as to the standard of the Sri Lankan champions, their city rivals have a clear focus of their own ahead of the new campaign.
“We want to set the tone for the season,” said Mike McFarlane, the new coach of the Quins.
“You can try to organise fixtures around here but you will then go and play against the same sides three or four times in the season.”
So serious have they been about their preparation, Quins had been in discussions over playing the national teams of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The trip to Sri Lanka, however, proved the most viable option. Etihad Airways, the club’s sponsors, have arranged discounted rates on flights, while the players themselves have footed the bill for the remaining expenses.
“It will be a good test,” McFarlane said. “The players have been buzzing for it.”
McFarlane joked that his team will “soften up” Kandy for their city rivals, but in truth any favours between the sides are now likely to be in short supply given the massive strides Saracens made last season.
All the major domestic trophies currently reside in the UAE capital. Harlequins won the UAE Premiership and the Dubai Sevens last season, before Saracens made an unforeseen run to take the Gulf Top Six title.
Anticipation for the Champions League competition is relatively muted at Saracens.
They are playing down their prospects for the competition, suggesting the competitive match practice they will get from it will be the main benefit ahead of the domestic campaign.
They will, though, be keen to see how Quins fare on their travels this weekend, to benchmark themselves against Kandy.
“I’ll be looking closely at it,” said Craig Nutt, the Saracens player-coach.
“I don’t know how strongly Quins will travel, it will be interesting to see. We know where we are against Harlequins, points wise.
“If Kandy put 80 points on them, or if it is close, it will be a guide for us.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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