14 October 2009
Shield finalists last year, Arabian Gulf will face reigning IRB Sevens World Series champions South Africa, Sevens World Cup champions Wales and Australia in the pool matches of the Emirates Airlines Dubai Sevens Rugby tournament which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
New Zealander Thornton is bravely optimistic of the Gulf team being not only competitive but also pulling off a few surprises in the December 3-5 event to be held The Sevens Stadium off Al Ain road.
“This year we are not just trying to compete. We are trying to win at least a couple of games. Our focus is we’ve got to improve on our fitness and our defence, which I believe is key in the Sevens game,” said Thornton who has first hand knowledge of the training methods of legendary New Zealand Sevens coaches John Mitchell and Gordon Tietjens.
Little wonder that he is brimming with confidence although he is just six weeks into the job. “It’s good to come over and show my stuff. The goal is the Dubai Sevens. Hopefully we are looking at getting into top eight. First we have to deal with South Africa, Aussies and Wales, which is pretty tough. We are trying to keep the boys upto standard,” said Thornton who is popular known as Junior.
Thornton was impressed with the initial squad of 18, which began their first serious training session under the watchful eyes of Head coach Bruce Birtwistle and the new conditioning coach from England James Houghton on Saturday. “We have got an 18-year-old and the oldest is 35 while a couple of them are training in England. We’ve got quite a bit of size and lot of speed. We working with them at the moment to get their fitness right up there to compete with top level rugby teams here,” said Thornton who observed that the standard of the domestic league tournament was also pretty high.
However, he is also conscious of the fact that the Gulf rugby players are basically amateur and admired their work ethics. “These boys work every day and we train three times a week. They work and train every day at 9 or 9.30 in the night. It’s pretty hard on the boys. They don’t get paid for it. They do it for the love of the game and for Arabian Gulf,” he pointed out.
Asked how their mindset of just competing for the spoils could be changed when they play against professionals, Thornton said: “We’ve all got to work together as a team. You’ve got to work as a group that works together so you can move forward.”
Birtwistle added that the bulk of the Sevens squad will be part of the of the XVs programme as they get set to prepare to vie for the Asian Five Nations Premier League title next year. “We’ll have the bulk of last year’s team but we are also going to have more players to apply more pressure,” said Birtwistle who said that more players have become eligible to represent the Gulf under the three-year residency rule.
Arabian Legends
Arabian Gulf veteran Mark Gathercole who is determined to extend his career for the Asian Five Nations, is also making a return to Sevens rugby by leading a team of former Gulf players at the Dubai Sevens. Aptly named Arabian Legends, the team of over 35s comprising former stars such as Andy Keegan, Rob Subbiani, Chris Mathews and Ayman Razak will debut this year in the International Veterans competition.
“I’m too old for Sevens but I’m training hard for the Asian Five Nations,” said the Dubai Exiles prop who is the most capped Arabian Gulf player with 36 Tests under his belt. “There is lot of effort needed on the training side. These guys are doing it now. The commitment they make is just tremendous. It is a high commitment and that’s something which takes a lot of your time,” said the former Gulf skipper.
“The guys in the Sevens squad are training far more than we ever did. Putting in a lot more sessions. They are going to have the fittest team and been working hard on the coaching side as well,” said Gathercole who represented the Gulf 74 times in Sevens in tournament around the world such as George, Durban, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
“They’ve been exposed last year with the World Cup and got a lot of exposure against good sides. They were unlucky last year not to have come away with one or two wins. I think this year they’ll get what they want. I think they are a better side,” he said.
