ABU DHABI // Harlequins, the English club with perhaps the strongest links to Abu Dhabi, say they are not embarrassed by being upstaged by Wasps, their London rivals.
Despite Quins being sponsored by Etihad and having a tie-up with Abu Dhabi Harlequins, it was Wasps who took the initiative to organise the ground-breaking match in the capital.
The two clubs clash on a newly-created pitch at the Emirates Palace hotel on Sunday in the LV Cup.
It will be the first time that a competitive British rugby union fixture will have been played outside the UK.
Mark Evans, the club's chief executive, said: "We had thought of doing this ourselves but it is extremely difficult to put in place logistically.
"Our season is so crowded that you think of it as a good idea but are never able to get it off the ground.
"Wasps came to us with the plan and we were happy to cooperate. You can only control your home games.
"The one week of the season where it could be a runner is this weekend and it just happened to be us in opposition to Wasps. Serendipity I would call it."
Evans admitted to being caught by surprise by Wasps' request to stage the fixture in Abu Dhabi but needed little persuasion.
"We think it is a really exciting idea and we are delighted to be involved and I wouldn't rule out repeating the exercise with one of our home games in the future."
Evans maintained that the issue of whether supporters who look forward to traditional London derbies were protesting about the venture was more relevant to his Wasps counterparts.
"We are the away team so we are sidelined here," he said. "Taking an away game out of the reach of the supporters is not that big a call."
Mark Mapletoft, the Quins coach, was more expansive on that matter.
"There has been some positive press about it and some negative press," he said.
"But you are always going to get that. Fans are bound to look at it in different ways.
"Some see it as a great opportunity and make it a holiday in a different part of the world.
"Others are saying 'I was really looking forward to that game but can't afford to go there'.
"Wasps will have their own agenda in terms of what they get out of the trip.
"It fits with us in terms of Etihad [Airways] being our title sponsor," he added.
