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.
• More: Gulf clubs bring rugby aid to Madagascar | Video
“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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SERIES INFO
Afghanistan v Zimbabwe, Abu Dhabi Sunshine Series
All matches at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Test series
1st Test: Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan by 10 wickets
2nd Test: Wednesday, 10 March – Sunday, 14 March
Play starts at 9.30am
T20 series
1st T20I: Wednesday, 17 March
2nd T20I: Friday, 19 March
3rd T20I: Saturday, 20 March
TV
Supporters in the UAE can watch the matches on the Rabbithole channel on YouTube
Q&A with Dash Berlin
Welcome back. What was it like to return to RAK and to play for fans out here again?
It’s an amazing feeling to be back in the passionate UAE again. Seeing the fans having a great time that is what it’s all about.
You're currently touring the globe as part of your Legends of the Feels Tour. How important is it to you to include the Middle East in the schedule?
The tour is doing really well and is extensive and intensive at the same time travelling all over the globe. My Middle Eastern fans are very dear to me, it’s good to be back.
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People enjoying the combination of the music and visuals are the key factor in the success of the Legends Of The Feel tour 2018.
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The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
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Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
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Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
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