Jebel Ali Dragons 27
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 40
Jebel Ali Dragons
Tries: Overton 2, Penalty, Binder
Cons: Strang 2; Drop goal: Strang
Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Tries: Manning, Marshall, Lewsey, Abraham
Cons: Stevenson 4; Pens: Stevenson 4
Man of the match: Luke Stevenson (Harlequins)
DUBAI // Domestic rugby has had to look far and wide for something to repel the irresistible force that is Jebel Ali Dragons over the past year and a half.
In the case of Abu Dhabi Harlequins on Friday, the answer came from Chicago, via a doping-control room in Manila.
Dragons have won each of the past five major competitions in this region, with Sean Crombie, their hooker, being front and centre in every success.
Rarely has last year’s player of the season been matched, let alone bettered.
But the Harlequins No 2, Phil Abraham, achieved that rare feat as his side completed a Gulf Top Six double over their rivals.
Abraham, who was a new recruit for the capital side at the start of this season, burrowed over for the score that clinched a 40-27 victory for the visitors at the Centre of Excellence in Dubai.
It was the final punctuation mark on a fine display by a side who have now won six out of six in this competition, not to mention another classic between these two best of enemies.
“He is a really good player and it is a blessing to have that standard to play against,” Abraham said of his front-row battle with Crombie, who is a former Scotland sevens international.
“It is an honour to play against someone like that at this level. We weren’t up to standard in the first half and we knew we could do much better if we squared a few details. To be able to come here and get this result is testament to our discipline and the effort we put in.”
The teacher, 30, took a roundabout route before arriving in the UAE in August.
The Chicago-born forward was told about Harlequins when he was called to dope test with Malcolm Greenslade and Graham Murphy when they were on Asian Five Nations duty for the UAE against his Philippines side in April.
“I met a couple of the boys in the doping testing room after the game and they made it easy to make the transition,” he said.
A victory that was more resounding on the scoreboard than on the field was due mostly to the unerring boot of Luke Stevenson in testing, windy conditions.
Jeremy Manning, Chris Marshall and the replacement scrum-half Ed Lewsey also scored tries as the away side came back from a 27-23 deficit against West Asia’s reigning No 1 side.
“I thought we were totally dominant in the first half, securing our primary possession and winning some of their scrums,” said Ross Mills, the Dragons coach.
“We could have done with getting another score before half time to put the game to bed.
“In the second half, we did things against what our structure is. If we play our structure, which is very basic, no one can live with us, but we let Quins back in.”
pradley@thenational.ae
