Doha 1st XV came away with their third straight win in the West Asia Championship when they beat Dubai Hurricanes 47-36 at the Doha Rugby Football Club here yesterday.
After a dominating first half that saw the home side go into the break with a 31-10 advantage, the Hurricanes, who were coming off a 55-5 win over Muscat last week, started closing the gap bringing the scoreline to 36-44. Eventually, however, they couldn’t stop the home side from posting their 13th straight win since September last year.
“I think we were away from what we were meant to be doing. We weren’t executing in the second half. We started throwing the ball around and they took advantage of all our mistakes,” captain Jamie Clarke said after the game.
“Disappointing that we didn’t play at a level we know we can but we can also take a few positives from the game.”
Yes, five points, including a bonus having scored six tries in the game. That means Doha RFC have 15 points from three games and a six-point lead over Dubai Exiles, who they play next week away.
Caine Elisara, Elliott Johnston and Fergus Onslow-Hughes scored two tries each, while Brook Treymayne had four conversions and three penalties to his name.
Talking about the game, player-coach Thomas Booth, standing in for head coach Aaron Palmer, said, “We didn’t follow our game plan for big periods of the game. When we did, I think we looked good. We know we haven’t played our best but I think we have come away with a decent win against a good side. At the end of the day, it is a positive. We just have to work hard before next week’s game.”
Hurricanes did well to not give Doha full back Aaron McLelland, known for his explosive pace, much space but that eventually didn’t count for much.
“Every team in this league knows what a weapon he is. I would be surprised if the teams weren’t putting their game plan around that and looking at ways to combat him. For us, it means a lot of room for the other players. So it is about us finding other attacking options,” Booth said.
Doha travel to Dubai next week for a top-of-the-table clash with Exiles.
“Exiles are going really well in their league. They have a new coach in Jacques Benade this year. They also have a kicker who will punish us from everywhere. So we need to be disciplined, that’s key next week. Obviously it is tough away anywhere in this league,” Booth said.
Clarke added: “It’s a big game, every week is a final. It goes by points table and every win counts. So the idea is to leave behind these games and focus on getting a win there.”