Dubai: An unknown quantity awaits the UAE when they take on hosts Uzbekistan in the division two semi-final of the Asian Rugby Championship at the Dustlik Stadium in Tashkent on Wednesday.
“We don’t know anything about Uzbekistan and therefore can’t do much but be more clinical about our structures and how we need to play,” UAE coach Apollo Perelini told Gulf News on Tuesday.
Whoever wins between the UAE and Uzbekistan faces the winner of the second semi-final between Thailand and Guam, which is also being played in Uzbekistan on Wednesday.
The final and third place play-off will take place at the same venue on Saturday.
The winner of this competition earns promotion to Division One, while the fourth-placed side gets relegated to Division Three. The UAE’s target will be to earn promotion, or at worst consolidate their position in Division Two.
“We have had a good two days preparation in Uzbekistan so far and this morning we trained at the stadium for a couple of hours,” added Perelini. “The main focus for the team at the moment is about how we play. Everyone is looking forward to it and we can’t wait to get going.”
The Asian Rugby Championship is an annual 15s format for Asian nations. The UAE assumed the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union’s position in the previously titled Asian Five Nations premier division in 2011 and held their position until back-to-back relegations in 2013 and 2014, leaving them in Division Two after they finished second to Malaysia last year.
