Arabian Gulf bowed out without a win in their farewell appearance at the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens tournament finding that gallantry alone was not enough to compete at the international level though they were not short on talent either.
Like against Kenya in their opening pool match, the Gulf side had their nose ahead in the Bowl quarter-final against Zimbabwe before going down 24-14. In the Shield final against France, they were 19-7 ahead midway in the second period but ran out of steam to lose 26-19 in their final outing together at The Sevens stadium on Saturday.
It was an emotion-filled and heart-breaking moment for many of the senior players in the side especially Sean Hurley who made his 11th appearance in the Dubai tournament for the Arabian Gulf.
He was almost in tears as he spoke about “the end of an era” after the match against France while Arabian Gulf’s outstanding player Jonny MacDonald described it as the best Gulf squad he had ever played with in a short span of three years
“I have put my heart and soul in this. It’s emotional,” said Hurley.
“The new guys also stood up. Rory Binder and Hayden Palmer, they had outstanding weekends. They put their body on line for each and every one of us. I’m really happy with the selection this year. This was the strongest Gulf team that went out.”
“Most of my memories are going to be about the boys. It’s a unique bunch we have got. I would call it the brotherhood we have. That’s why we want to keep this momentum going into the Asian Five Nations and Sevens when UAE comes next year,” said Hurley who hopes to make a contribution to the side in future possibly in a management role.
“I don’t think you will see me running out there for Sevens again. I will be lucky if i can be involved in some way and take the UAE forward. I know there are plans already to set up the locals and get them really involved with particularly Asian Five nations.
“Whether it’s a mixed side or adding UAE guys, that would be great. I’m getting a little old but the hunger is still there so. I would love to be involved. Maybe manager of the team or something,” said the 32-year-old Dubai Dragons star who has been a long-time Dubai resident.
“We knew this was the last time Arabian Gulf was playing together. Although that was running in my minds obviously, more than anything else the boys did really well. We gave our best out there. Unfortunately we didn’t come through but I think it was a really emotional moment and a tough time for us,” said Abu Dhabi-born MacDonald is uncertain of his future.
“I have been involved with Arabian Gulf for three years and since then I think this was the best squad. The quality is there, only thing is we don’t have enough preparations and we don’t have what all these other boys have. We are not making any excuses but we are happy that we showed a little bit professionalism and unfortunately it did not work out us,” he said.
“For the last few years we have almost become a good team. We have been in that position to kill off a team. But we have not been able to do that. So we are obviously very disappointed with what happened,” said MacDonald of their best weekend at the Dubai tournament.
“We are proud to represent the Arabian Gulf, but the relationship we share with each other I don’t think will be there in any other international series. The unity we have, the brotherhood shows we are ready to go and die for each other,” said MacDonald.
Shield finalists last year, it was indeed sad to see Arabian Gulf finish empty handed despite all their bravado and promise on the field.
MacDonald got them off to a great start against Zimbabwe with James Love converting his try to give Gulf a 7-0 with the game just over a minute old.
But Zimbabwe hit back with tries from Gardener Nechironga, Justin Coles and Tangai Nemadire to take 17-7 lead.
A converted try by Daniel Bell midway in the second period kept alive their hopes as they closed the gap to 17-14 but a late try by substitute Tafadzwa Chitokwindo sealed the fate of Arabian Gulf who beat Zimbabwe in the Bowl quarter-final last year.
A rejuvenated Gulf side came out firing all cylinders against France surging ahead 12-0 within the first four minutes with tries by Bell and MacDonald. Young debutant Hayden Palmer set up the first try making a dash before being stalled near the line while Binder hit the gap before MacDonald jinxed his way past a few defenders to score in the left corner.
France hit back with a try by Camille Canivet but Arabian Gulf streaked ahead 19-7 at the break after James Love put the finish touches to a breakaway move and added the extra points.
But France pounced on a litany of errors to score twice through Samy Ben Letaief and substitute Jean Baptiste Belanger to lead 21-19 with two minutes to go.
Renaud Delmas hit the final nail in the Arabian Gulf coffin on the stroke of full time and break their hearts.
“The boys showed a lot of determination. In the end we just could not finish off after getting a great start. Another thing is when players are in the game we have to eliminate the mistakes against good sides,” said Arabian Gulf Sevens coach Shane ‘Junior’ Thornton
“It’s frustrating for the coach, the players. It was the last tournament for everyone. Yes it was bad,” he said.
Asked whether Gulf lacked the killer instinct, he said: “No. We have to eliminate mistake against good teams like that and take your opportunity when it arises. We did that at the start but we did not do it all the way throughout the game,” he said.
However, the New Zealander said they could take many positives from their performance.
“There are so many positives we will be taking into when we go into the UAE team next year. We are going to have different players so we have to rebuild. But we can’t compete at the top level as long as we get more games behind us and experience. We can’t just turn up and play in the top league. Until then it will be very tough with a few training programmes,” he warned.
“We have the potential. As the coach I have tried to teach the team to attack the defence and actually have a shot at the big players. In the last two years they have come on and this year they were more confident and more experienced. They should go ahead in further in their careers,” he said singling out MacDonald and Love for special mention.
“They were outstanding. They came on the scene this year and played really played well. Hayden Palmer has also really improved. We have upcoming players to build on from here,” he said.
On the failure to win a single match, he said: “You don’t win just like that. When you are up you have to learn finish them off. But that was not happening. When you have not won many games, the players are probably relaxed when they are up and things can change fast in sevens. Next year I hope things will change when they play for their clubs,” said Junior.
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