UAE 0 Japan 111
Japan: Tries: Arlidge, Aruga, Nicholas 3, Endo 2, Usuzuki 4, Ono, Kikutani, Holani, Webb 2, Ives. Cons: Arlidge 12, Nicholas
Man of the match: Takashi Kikutani (Japan)
DUBAI // As the UAE’s amateur players did their best to limit the damage in a chastening defeat to the World Cup-bound professionals from Japan, the visitors were focused on other things.
When Hitoshi Ono went over for Japan’s 43rd point, with still less than 20 minutes on the clock, John Kirwan, their coach, expressed mild displeasure that his captain had not dotted it down directly under the posts.
James Arlidge, the fly-half, had to take his kick at goal from five yards to the right of the posts instead.
Such is the precision the Japanese side, who will face greater challenges later this year when they face mightier teams, such as New Zealand at the World Cup, aspire to.
The cavernous difference between these two sides can be of little surprise, given the disparity in resources available to each nation.
Japan's coaching staff had four Apple laptops between them, on which to examine the performances of their players.
While they are now set to stay on in the UAE for two days of training, the home side's players will be thinking about a return to their day-jobs.
They will need to take up more annual leave when they travel to Hong Kong next weekend for a match which will decide who will finish in second place in the HSBC Asian Five Nations table, as last night’s win a fourth-straight title for Japan.
Ryan Nicholas, the Australia-born centre, punched holes in the UAE midfield at will, helping himself to three tries.
Such dominance was perhaps to be expected from a player who finished the 2002 season as the leading try-scorer for Otago Highlanders in Super 12.
One of those in his direct line of sight, Jon Beeton, an engineer who plays for the Dubai Exiles, had the brightest moment in an otherwise bleak evening for the home side.
His break after making an interception on his own 22 resulted in the one occasion when the UAE crossed the Japanese try line.
They were denied a try however as the referee ruled Sean Hurley, the chasing winger, had been beaten to the touchdown.
“We ran into a pretty spectacular Japanese performance,” Bruce Birtwistle, the UAE coach, said. “The speed and accuracy of their attack was sublime.
“It was a pretty hard team to defend against when you are chasing shadows.”
Even Kirwan, who had been critical of his side’s performances to date in the competition, was impressed by his charges.
“Our goal was to have a complete performance and I was very pleased with the structure we kept throughout the whole 80 minutes,” he said. “I’m pretty happy we are heading in the right direction. We have seen some improvement in the UAE team, and they were buoyed after their [win over] Kazakhstan, so we certainly did not underestimate them.”
The UAE now have to lift themselves for a trip to Hong Kong that will decide who finishes second behind the perennial victors, Japan.
Mike Cox-Hill, the national team’s captain, insists it will not be hard to rally his side for the decisive fixture.
“We are meeting Japan, who are 13th in the world, in a World Cup year, they have had two matches and they are a well-oiled machine,” he said.
"We have had a great start to this campaign. Our primary objective is to retain second place and we have all that to play for next year."
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Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency in the world. It was created in 2009 as a new way of paying for things that would not be subject to central banks that are capable of devaluing currency. A Bitcoin itself is essentially a line of computer code. It's signed digitally when it goes from one owner to another. There are sustainability concerns around the cryptocurrency, which stem from the process of "mining" that is central to its existence.
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Fund-raising tips for start-ups
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Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business
* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
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The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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