Paul Radley
DUBAI // Xodus Wasps Dubai are craving some long overdue success in the UAE Premiership.
Dubai's youngest top-flight club went winless in the competition last year.
That unwelcome streak extended to Friday's opener against Jebel Ali Dragons, as they went down 31-5 in a feisty encounter with the defending champions.
For one of their number, in particular, a desire for some good cheer on the pitches at The Sevens, Dubai, extends way beyond the club’s current winless run.
In fact, Ollie Turton’s gripe with the place even predates his arrival in the city last June, when he relocated from the UK to take up a role in the fitness industry.
Two years ago, the powerful outside-centre was aspiring to a professional career in the sport when he arrived at the Dubai Rugby Sevens as part of the England development sevens side.
Playing in the quarter-finals of the international invitational tournament, he sustained an injury to the meniscus in his knee, which effectively ended his chances of a career in the game.
Yet he was still happy to move here this year and return to those same fields as a new recruit of Wasps, who are one of a group of clubs who play their home games at The Sevens.
“I suffered my knee injury here, but I’ve come back,” Turton said.
“It was literally just a sidestep, and my meniscus slipped. In terms of the pain, I have had worse.”
In his early career in the game, Turton played alongside the likes of James Cracknell, John Brake and Sam Edgerley, who have all tasted success in the UAE with the England side.
Given his pedigree, he was a positive acquisition for an upwards-looking club this summer.
“Wasps ties in best with my work commitments,” said the fitness instructor. “Where we are training is bang in the middle of Dubai, which is best for me. It is easy to get to.
“I am doing 100 miles per day, so I don’t want to be driving an extra hour going back and forth to rugby training, too.”
Against Dubai Exiles on Thursday, Turton will lead the effort of a Wasps backline that has a far steelier appearance than last season, with fellow summer recruit Jaymes Chapman in line for a first Premiership start.
"He is a former semi-professional player who is very, very strong and fit," Martin Southern, the Wasps director of rugby, said of Turton.
“He will add a lot to our defence and our counter-attack. He is a big unit who will help us get over the gain line, and he is a very humble, nice bloke as well.”
Wasps will look to avenge their opening day loss, and try to claim some local bragging rights – their home pitches are about five metres apart – when they face the Exiles at The Sevens.
pradley@thenational.ae
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