Abu Dhabi Saracens players celebrate their win in the ARFU West Asia Club Championship Cup final with the winner’s trophy yesterday. PICTURE: Nasar TK
By Mikhil Bhat/Doha
Two weeks after Doha RFC handed Abu Dhabi Saracens their first defeat in the Gulf Top 6 Championship this season, the UAE team struck back in a match that really mattered — the ARFU West Asia Club Championship Cup final.
Hosting the final after having won their first ever Top 6 title with a 49-22 win over Jebel Ali Dragons last week, Doha were considered by many as the favourites.
The hosts also got on to the scoreboard first but a few penalty and conversion misses and a try-conversion combo by Saracens minutes from the final whistle cost them dear yesterday as thy went down to the Saracens 20-26.
“Weird, isn’t it? You can win a league playing consistently well over 10 weeks and then you can come to a final, and lose it in the last four minutes. It is a hard pill to swallow,” lamented Doha RFC coach Aaron Palmer.
“We just didn’t play according to the plan. I don’t know whether it was nerves, I don’t know what it was… but we didn’t play to a pattern, gave away too many penalties. They put us in the corner.
“We missed a few shots at the goal. Kicking is important in any game. I don’t know if it would have made a difference here, it is a six-point difference, but it would have had an impact throughout the game.”
Saracens had the chance to get on to the scoreboard first but Elliott Reeder missed it at the post.
In the 13th minute, Aaron McLelland began a run from inside the Saracens half before getting the ball to Dilanka Wijesekera who made a break and then produced a well-timed offload to Wade Lotter, who finished the move past the try line to get Doha a 5-0 lead. Greg Evans’ effort at conversion couldn’t earn the team that extra two points.
Four minutes later, however, Giovano Fourie managed to score a try off a lineout near the Doha try line, and Reeder converted it to give his team a 7-5 lead.
After Evans got Doha ahead with a penalty, moments before the break, Fourie was able to pull off yet another try and the visitors went into the break on a high with a 12-8 lead.
In the second half, Doha’s Sam Spencer scored a try but there is no conversion this time too.
Abu Dhabi captain Stephen Hamilton and Reeder took the score to 19-13 before Evans came up with a try-conversion double for Doha’s narrow 20-19 lead.
However, minutes before time, Saracens were able to shift the action deep into the Doha half and a couple of line-outs later they were able to drive a try home through Josh Dransfield before Reeder completed the win with a conversion.
The game was Doha veteran Liam Frost’s 52nd and his last for the club.
“It feels a bit of a downer that we had to collect the Top 6 trophy after a loss but our main aim was to win the Top 6 and we knew we would get into the final. We thought we had it but in the final minutes we made a mistake and credit to Saracens, they are a great side who have had an awesome season,” Frost said after the match.
“Looking at it in hindsight, they had a week off because of a forfeit from Bahrain last week. Maybe that had something to do with it, they were a bit fresher… but I won’t take anything away from them. Close game, great to be a part of.”
Reflecting over a season in which Doha RFC won the Gulf Premiership and the Top 6 title, Palmer said, “I think we have made massive strides this year. These guys have proved that they can play at a very high level. You can see the number of people out here, enjoying this sport. These people are passionate about rugby. The players are amateurs, they work their 40-hour weeks and then come down here and play rugby because they love the game.”
He added: “It would be great to have Doha rugby games televised. Any publicity will be fantastic. This is just a community club run by some volunteers, who can put on an event for 500-600 people every other week in the winter.”
