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Exiles meet Hurricanes in playoff final

This weekend will see the end of the domestic Gulf men's club season with the Club Playoff Final to be contested by Dubai Exiles and current league champions Dubai Hurricanes.

  • Staff Report
  • Published: 00:17 April 16, 2008
  • Gulf News

Dubai: This weekend will see the end of the domestic Gulf men's club season with the Club Playoff Final to be contested by Dubai Exiles and current league champions Dubai Hurricanes.

A spanner was thrown into the Hurricanes' plans for an all-conquering season last weekend when they were beaten by this season's league upstarts the NBAD Abu Dhabi Bats in the final of the Arabian Gulf Cup.

Should the dangerous Exiles get back in the winners' circle on Friday, the previously consistent Hurricanes would have in the space of seven days missed out on the two biggest prizes in Gulf rugby. They will have to be content with consolation titles of Dubai 7s and Sharjah 10s.

Hurricanes coach Steve Holohan was confident his team would learn from last week's upset defeat at the hands of Abu Dhabi and put things in perspective when they meet old foes Exiles on Friday afternoon.

Staying buoyant

"Last week, we failed to put our game plan into action and Abu Dhabi, to their credit, were more clinical in their team game. We have a week to get back on track and motivation will not be a problem come Friday," said the burly Welsh Coach.

For the Exiles, they will be hoping to finish with a title win in what has been a frustrating season after being pipped to the post for the minor league title and being beaten by the Hurricanes in the Dubai Sevens Club Final when as hosts they would have dearly loved to have won for the last time on the old ground.

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