Dubai
Impossible is nothing for Roelof Kotze. The Performance Manager of UAE rugby is dreaming big ahead of the UAE Shaheen’s tour to Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur for the ARFU Asian Rugby 7s and nothing short of winning the bowl category will satisfy him. The Shaheen under-20 side flies to Malaysia for the ARFU U-20 7s before that and speaking to XPRESS, the South African sounded quite optimistic despite the slowing down of training owing to the Holy Month of Ramadan.
“We do have light trainings about three times a week. Obviously fitness is bound to go down during this period but we will be heading off to a training camp at the Shark’s Academy in Durban right after Eid. We will have a conditioning block and a skill block and we will be working hard to get back to peak fitness, so by the time the August U-20 tournament and the two Asian 7s senior events come around, the Shaheen boys should be ready,” he said.
Before going into the Ramadan break, the Shaheen team had a fruitful outing in Europe with two tournaments in Amsterdam and Milan. “The progress was there for all to see. They have been improving in every tournament they have played which is why I am hopeful in the upcoming tournaments,” Kotze said.
Ever since his appointment in February, Kotze hasn’t had it all rosy, though. “The most difficult part has been that a lot of these boys have no sporting reference points and have played no sport. But having said that, we do have a plan in place once the new season local starts in September,” he said, adding: “We have drawn up an integration plan with the clubs. The first step is to identify Emirati school kids who have the skills and have them join the Shaheen programme. Same goes for new guys who want to play rugby. We shall then prepare them to get up to scratch and join the clubs and the feedback from the clubs has also been positive in this regard.”
Kotze made special mention of seniors like Faris Homayoun, the skipper of the senior Shaheen side and Mohannad Shaker while he picked out Adel Al Hindi as a standout youngster. “These guys are the backbone of the senior side, while guys like Abdullah Al Hajiri, Younus and Majid Albaloushi and Yousuf Ishkari are the leaders in the U-20 side.”
The Shaheen U-20 side plays the ARFU U-20 7s on August 16-17, while the senior side plays in Hong Kong in the Asian 7s on August 23-24 and in Kuala Lumpur on September 6-7.
