New kits, new coach, same result for Abu Dhabi Harlequins in UAE Premiership opener

McFarlane wins in his debut as UAE Premiership champions run away from their capital rivals Saracens after half-time, reports Paul Radley. Sam Bolger, Gavin Murphy and Josh Navable score tries for the Harelquins.

Abu Dhabi Harlequin teammates, in white, celebrate one of their three tries on Thursday night. Delores Johnson / The National

ABU DHABI // Mike McFarlane was able to celebrate a first competitive win since becoming Abu Dhabi Harlequins coach at the first possible opportunity, then immediately switched his attention to more serious business.

Shortly after the final whistle blew on their scrappy 24-3 win over city rivals Saracens on Thursday night, the coach checked his phone to see if he was a father yet. Not so.

Wife Amanda was by the pitch, with the wait for the young McFarlane’s arrival still ongoing.

If the coach does have to miss any time from rugby during the coming weeks because of the imminent arrival, then his side are well set up to cope on this evidence.

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The defending UAE Premiership champions might not have been at their fluent best on the field in a lukewarm game, but they look a highly professional outfit in every other way.

Their dapper new kit extended to smart shirts just to practice in before the start.

They had exercise bikes stationed in their technical area on which their replacements could warm up.

In the dressing room, the players had their spaces personally labelled. There were ice-baths being readied for them after the conclusion of the match.

And this was a team who undertook an overseas preseason trip just to be ready for this game. This barely looks like the amateur game that it is supposed to be.

“If we are going to attract the top players in the UAE – and we have players messaging us every day to come over to us – then we have to set that standard for playing experience,” McFarlane said.

“I couldn’t be more delighted with the boys. We knew it would be a physical, forward-based game, but we fronted up.

“We created a great platform for the backs, and when the backs finally did break down their 10-man rugby, we cut loose.”

With the start of the new season coinciding with the Eid holiday weekend, there was a party atmosphere at Zayed Sports City.

Before the start, the two sides entered the field through a tunnel made up of scores of children who had just finished their training sessions on the adjacent pitches.

Many of the children stayed on to watch the main event, too, meaning there were hundreds of supporters sitting on the bank when the game kicked off.

The match itself was hardly fitting for the occasion, however. The play was fitful until Harlequins started to pull away towards the end, with tries for Sam Bolger and Gavin Murphy to add to the earlier score by Josh Navable, their outstanding loose-forward.

The flow was not aided by the flurry of cards meted out to both sides, with Quins playing with a man less for a large part of the game, and Saracens conceding 20 penalties overall.

Steve Hamilton, the player-coach of Saracens, was not overly disappointed with the way his side opened their Premiership campaign, though.

“In terms of structure, during the first 40 minutes we did what we wanted to do,” Hamilton said.

“Going in at half time four points down (at 7-3), we were happy with that. The structure we had wanted to achieve was there, but in the second half, especially the last 20 minutes, that just fell apart.”

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