Dubai: UAE Rugby has appointed former Wallabies star Duncan Hall as the association's performance manager in a move designed to give the sport a boost and develop the performance of the UAE's national teams.
Hall's appointment was announced by Ian Bremner, chief executive of the UAE Rugby Association, in the presence of Mohammad Falaknaz, UAE Rugby chairman, and secretary-general Salman Hadi at a press conference at Al Manzil Hotel yesterday.
Speaking to Gulf News later, Hall said: "My immediate plan will be to meet the people and assess what expectations they have and then put plans in place to improve their skills and help them achieve their own goals and lift the standards."
Hall carries with him a wealth of experience — not only as a player but coach and administrator.
He has played 15 Tests for the Australian national team and is internationally regarded as a coach with proven expertise in coaching at high performance levels. He had held positions such as head coach with USA Rugby and state director of coaching for Queensland Rugby. He also has Premiership experience with Leicester Tigers and Worcester Warriors and was involved with New South Wales Waratahs.
Falling standards
"In rugby, sometimes your standards drop because you have to play under pressure. So you need to train hard and also you have to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes," said Hall, who also holds a teaching diploma and associated diploma in business — apart from being a Level 3 Rugby Union coach.
Hall also stressed the importance of promoting rugby at the schools level.
Hall's primary responsibility in his new role will be to develop the on-field performances of UAE Rugby's National 7s and 15s teams.
"Duncan [Hall] has exceptionally impressive, quantifiable qualifications in developing players and teams through implementing effective practices and we envisage his top-level experience to be invaluable in our goal to improve our ranking in Asia. We are excited to have him [join] our management team," Falaknaz said.
