UAE women’s rugby: Dubai Hurricanes look to boost title defence at Sharjah Wanderers

George Cliffe, the Dubai Hurricanes coach, is confident his side can revive their UAE Rugby Women’s Cross Border League title defence at Sharjah Wanderers today.

Dubai Hurricanes celebrate at the 2016 Dubai Rugby Sevens. Victor Besa / The National

DUBAI // George Cliffe, the Dubai Hurricanes coach, is confident his side can revive their UAE Rugby Women’s Cross Border League title defence at Sharjah Wanderers on Friday.

The Hurricanes slipped to second in the table, behind Abu Dhabi Harlequins, after a disappointing tournament in Doha two weeks ago.

The sides reassemble for the penultimate sevens tournament of the season at Sharjah on Friday, with the Hurricanes looking to make up a 12-point deficit on Quins at the top of the standings.

“We have had heaps of players missing and injured, plus we had visa issues as everyone else does, and other teams stepped up,” Cliffe said.

“The standard of women’s rugby is very good. If you are not at your best you will get torn apart, as we were last time out.”

The Hurricanes men’s team have endured lean pickings in recent times, relative to their glory days of the turn of the decade, but their club colleagues have been the dominant force in the women’s division of Gulf rugby of late.

They won the league and Dubai Rugby Sevens titles last season, and have already achieved the first half of that double again this time around.

On Pitch 2 at The Sevens in December, they beat their city rivals Heartbeat Tigers 12-7 in a tense final to claim the Gulf Women’s League trophy.

Cliffe says his players deserve their successes, given the commitment they make to excelling at their sport.

“It is a big commitment they make,” Cliffe said. “It is frustrating for them if people think it is a second-grade thing they are doing.

“But they are no different to the men’s game in terms of the expectations they have and the commitment they make. As a consequence the playing level is high.

“This season we had five new players who were teachers, new to Dubai, who were picked up by players already in the team who said, ‘Come along, it is good fun’.

“In the past we have had a lot of girls who were netballers, or who have played hockey, or from athletics, and we have tried to complement that.”

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UAE Rugby Women’s Cross Border League

Round 6, Friday, Sharjah Wanderers

Top 6

1. Abu Dhabi Harlequins, 256 points

2. Dubai Hurricanes, 244

3. Heartbeat Tigers, 236

4. Dubai Sharks, 216

5. Abu Dhabi Bats, 176

6. Doha Oryx, 168

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