Jebel Ali Dragons taste UAE Premiership success again after beating Dubai Hurricanes

It might be a while since their voices echoed around a finals day quite so noisily. And some of the faces have changed in the decade since.

But, 10 years on from the last time they raised the UAE Premiership trophy, one thing remains the same: Jebel Ali Dragons’ supporters are still the loudest.

At the end of a day that encapsulated all the best of rugby in this country, the Dragons were able to celebrate a return to winning ways.

They beat Dubai Hurricanes 25-11 in the UAE Premiership final, and started a rowdy party in Al Ain in the process.

“For our club as a community to have a day like this, it is insane,” said Bradley Janes, the Dragons captain. “Our support is amazing, and it has been all year. We have a community of hundreds of people who, even if they are not first-team players, it doesn’t matter.

“It gives you so much motivation when you hear that. If you are getting off the deck having just been smashed, it helps you to get up and go again.

“It is amazing to do it for them. I am so proud to be part of this club, and it is not just for the players but the supporters as well.”

It was a day of triumph for UAE rugby as a whole, not just the Dragons. Most notably, Al Ain Amblers proved the perfect hosts.

Between 8.30am and 10pm on Saturday, the club staged 27 cup finals at various levels and age-groups.

By the end of the best part of 14 hours of rugby, despite the traffic created by hundreds of players and spectators, the fields were just as immaculate as at the start of the day.

Staffing such a programme must have been as much a challenge for the UAE Rugby Referees as it was for the ground staff.

A total of 60 match duties – either referee, assistant ref, or fourth official – were juggled between 44 different officials.

It is often said that a good marker of how a referee has performed is that they go unnoticed. But James Fairbourn and his team merit mention for the fact the showpiece fixture of the day, the UAE Premiership final, passed off without any ill feeling.

It was largely down to the officials, but also reflected the two competing teams. The finalists might be among the most storied clubs in Dubai, but the match-up is still the city’s friendly derby.

Despite the intensity of the battle – as shown by one scuffle in the first half – it lacked much of the lingering animosity of many of UAE rugby’s other great rivalries.

That was proven just before the end when, with play still going on but knowing their race was run, the Hurricanes coach Henry Paul and a number of replaced players, strode up the touchline to congratulate the new champions.

The fact the Dragons had clinched it with time to spare was remarkable, given the way their season had panned out.

They had only sneaked into the play-offs, finishing level on points with fifth-placed Abu Dhabi Harlequins. From then on, they were perfect, beating the previously all-conquering Dubai Tigers, then Hurricanes in successive weeks.

Their success proved the adage that it is not about how you start in sport, but how you finish.

“The big emphasis was on no one playing like an individual and trying to win us the game on their own,” said Matt Richards, the Dragons’ player-coach.

“We knew we needed to win it as a team. It meant we had players who were holding back on what they could do. We were strong as a team, and it worked.

“That is the point of the players we have got. They want to commit to the club, they want to stay in the club. They love it.”

The coach estimated that 60 per cent of the squad started together three years ago. They have made incremental improvements each campaign, from missing the semi-finals totally back then, to taking the title this time.

“We have been building this squad for about three years,” Richards said. “We had a strong team who always used to compete, then we had an outflux of players as people leave, as seems to happen on the rugby scene.

“Then we had more players coming in, and managed to retain the right type of person. It took a little longer than some clubs have managed to do, but you can see what it means to everyone.”

The game itself was chiefly memorable for the colossal battle between two ferocious back rows.

The Hurricanes effort was led by Ruan Steenkamp. Having captained South Africa at Under-20 level and played Super Rugby with the Bulls, he is among the best credentialled players ever to feature in UAE rugby.

And yet the outstanding player on the field was in the opposing back row, the Dragons captain Janes. The openside flanker scored the third try at the start of the second half to give his side enough of an advantage from which the Hurricanes were unable to recover.

“We have been getting better, bit by bit, each year for the past four years,” Janes said. “Building from Covid, we have got better and better, but we were not quite there. To finally all come together as a group is amazing.

“We have taken our game to the next level. It is just a group of mates who have banded together every Tuesday and Thursday, running through walls for each other, and it has finally paid off on the big day.”