Malaysia 36, UAE 22
UAE coach Apollo Perelini is confident his side can raise themselves for Wednesday’s vital clash with top-ranked Sri Lanka, despite a bitter defeat to Malaysia in the Asia Rugby Championship Division 1 opener on Sunday.
Fijian centre Jone Nasalo scored a hat-trick for the host nation, as they claimed a bonus-point win over the UAE.
Even though it was just the first of three matches within a week, the defeat is potentially damaging to the national team’s hopes of promotion to the top tier of Asian rugby.
Having failed to take a four-try bonus point, or a losing one, the UAE could yet win both their remaining matches and still miss out on top spot.
To add injury to insult, Dan Bell, the Jebel Ali Dragons fullback, suffered a suspected broken ankle early in the match in Ipoh.
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Despite the setbacks, Perelini is demanding his players bounce back against a Sri Lanka side 31 places above them in the world rankings, who won their own opening game against Philippines.
“I have said to the boys, ‘Listen, we can’t dwell on it — the game is gone, it is lost, it is done’,” Perelini said.
“You can’t fix that. What you can do is fix the next game and the game after that. This is where a team has to bond together.
“We are going to get tighter when these results go against us. It is easy to blame somebody, and point the finger at somebody else, but that isn’t going to make us a better team.
“No one goes out there to make mistakes or play a bad game. It’s just the way it is. At these tournaments, you don’t have time to dwell. You have to move on.”
Even though the coach said they could have no excuse for defeat, the former dual code international struggled to conceal his frustration with the officiating of the opening day loss.
The touring side battled back to within seven points, with Ryno Fourie, Jaen Botes and Kris Greene scoring tries.
However, their rally was punctured when they were penalised for an early engagement at a scrum, and their momentum was lost.
Perelini was still furious over the fallout from Bell’s injury earlier in the game, believing that play had not been stopped sooner to treat the stricken player.
“It is a hard pill to swallow,” Perelini said. “There were a few things that didn’t go our way. We had some tough calls here and there.
“The referee didn’t stop the game when Dan was injured, with medics in the centre of the pitch.
“I couldn’t fault the commitment or effort, we just didn’t get the bounce of the ball today.
“There are a few areas I would have to question the officials on. It was frustrating as a coach.
“Our boys had some moments when we weren’t executing exactly what we wanted to, because there was some frustration.
“But we can’t use any excuses. We have to move on, because we have another massive game on Wednesday.”
Malaysia 36
• Tries: Nasalo 3, Wye Wye, Gavidi
• Cons: Rahman 3, Tamanisau
• Pens: Rahman
UAE 22
• Tries: Fourie, Botes, Greene
• Cons: Stevenson 2
• Pen: Stevenson
Asia Rugby Championship Division 1
Results
• Sri Lanka 24-13 Philippines
• Malaysia 36-22 UAE
Fixtures
• Wednesday, May 17: Sri Lanka v UAE, Malaysia v Philippines
• Saturday, May 20: UAE v Philippines, Malaysia v Sri Lanka
pradley@thenational.ae
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