Al Ain Amblers in top 4

Al Ain Amblers hovering at the top of the UAE Division One Rugby Competition

By Maniue Vilsoni

The Al Ain Amblers are in the top 4 of the 2021/2022 UAE Division Rugby 1 table. The Amblers are perched at 2nd place on the league table after the Dubai Hurricanes. Earlier on 22nd January at the Sevens Complex, the Amblers beat the Hurricanes, 41-26. The Amblers might just meet this old foe again in the finals.

Last Saturday, 12th February at the Sharjah Wanderers Rugby Football Club, the Amblers mustered a makeshift side to comfortably account for their opponents, 53-14. In the absence of key back-liners Gerhard Botha and FC Holdt, the rejigged back division performed above expectations. Clint Sacks stepped in for Gerhard and Ovidu Dambrava marshalled the speedy backline from flyhalf.

Thomas Hanks at fullback was the ‘Man of the Match’; his scintillating performance galvanized his backline to counterattack and defend their line very well. Lucian Jansen at inside center glided past defenders and dotted down his regulation brace of tries. Liam Chalkley was versatile on the wing – great chaser of the ball and defended his flank with aplomb. Clint was in every attacking move and his sniping around the edges of the rucks and tackle ball area made life extremely hard for the tired Wanderers. Malo Vuata, after some problems with his boots, did his share to create space for his outside runners. Newbie, Brandon Cullinan, fitted in very well on the right wing and his untiring chase and tackle efforts put pressure on the Wanderers.

The Wanderers played right to the very end and it was a very physical contest. The Amblers had a very strong scrum led by front rowers: Michael Jordan, Llewellyn James and Johan Schulze. They steamrolled the Sharjah pack and even scored a push-over try. Alaa Samaan and

CJ Van Zyl added an extra oomph to the tight-five at locks. On the flanks, Chris Brooke, Daniel Hill and Wihan Grobler had a field day playing off this go-forward scrum and pods. The lineouts were crisp and hooker Llewellyn found his jumpers with pin-point accuracy.

On the bench, Greg Sloan and Morne Julius carried on the forward momentum when they ran on. Evergreen, Robert Botes, also had a share of the action and was acknowledged at the aftermatch for being a persevering fifty-year-old-plus still putting in a very decent shift on the field. Stephen Huemer, was his usual robust self when he came on and when it comes to fetching that ball off the tackler on the ground, he is always in that top bracket of flankers. Ahmed Yaser also held his ground when called to the wing.

“Thomas Hanks at fullback was the ‘Man of the Match’; his scintillating performance galvanized his backline to counterattack and defend their line very well.”

With a small squad to select from, the Amblers did admirably well to chalk up another victory after beating the Dubai Sharks, 38-11, on 15th January and the Dubai Dragons, 36-33 on 5th February.

On its current form and position in the league, the Amblers will definitely make the playoffs and this Saturday’s home game (26th February) versus the Dubai Tigers will be a keen contest. It is a very good season so far for the Amblers.