Abu Dhabi Saracens eye return to the top of Gulf rugby after recruiting Winston Cowie as coach

Reem Mohammed/The National file

ABU DHABI – Abu Dhabi Saracens have given a sign their intent to regain their place at the top of Arabian Gulf rugby after appointing Winston Cowie as their new coach.

The arrival of the former Doha hooker is the most notable appointment in a raft of changes at Al Ghazal this summer, with Mike Pugliese also taking over as club captain.

The top flight’s youngest club shocked regional rugby by becoming the No 1 side in West Asia two seasons ago, in just their third full year as a competitive entity.

The subsequent loss of their major sponsor, as well as the departure of both their president and head coach, undermined the defence of their title last term.

However, after a season of consolidation, they are now looking for an assault on silverware again when domestic rugby restarts in September.

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“I am incredibly excited by the opportunity to work with one of the Gulf’s top sides,” Cowie said.

“With the excellent group of players we have we will be working hard in preseason. My challenge will be to ensure that, week in week out, we are a consistently physical team that gets results.”

A former hooker who once played in the same Oxford University team as former Australia wing Joe Roff, Cowie’s playing career was cut short five years ago by a serious knee injury while playing for Doha.

After subsequently moving to the UAE, he briefly served as the forwards coach at Abu Dhabi Harlequins until two years ago.

Now he has opted to return to the fold at city neighbours Saracens, where his wife Lucy, a former Arabian Gulf representative, and two daughters are already enrolled as players.

The New Zealander’s arrival is likely to reinforce the existing Saracens gameplan, which is built on an imposing forward pack.

“I am particularly looking forward to working with the forwards, harnessing the power of this beast of a pack,” Cowie said.

“We will be working hard to win the West Asia Club Championship this year, in what is shaping as one of the most competitive Gulf competitions ever.”

Cowie will take the reins from Steve Hamilton and Craig Nutt, two of the side’s outstanding players, who shared coaching duties during the club’s season of transition.

Hamilton and Pugliese were part of the Air Seychelles Mike Ballard Foundation Conquistadors tour to Madagascar this month, which was led by Cowie.

“Last season we were under pressure and we decided to move forward with player-coaches in Steve and Craig,” Pugliese said.

“It was a good solution, but it is not the answer moving forward. If you look at the mentality we need to be competitive as a team, with the standard going up and up every year, I think Winnie brings that.

“He is a perfect fit to bring 23 guys together to compete every Friday.”

Saracens and the rest of the Gulf rugby will be tasked with reeling in Dubai Exiles, who won a double of trophies last season, when the newly-revamped competition begins in September.

“We went into last season to win silverware,” Pugliese said. “We let ourselves down in a few games, and that was nothing to do with ability. One thing we did miss was that organisation from the top.

“We want to maintain the standard we set two years ago, to be the best in the Gulf. I think we still have the right pieces to do that.”

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