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• Arabian Gulf captain quietly confident ahead of Dubai Sevens

With plenty of international competition and coaching from the world’s best, the Global Process Systems Arabian Gulf Sevens team has had the strongest build-up possible to this year’s Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens.
 
Captain of the home side, Stephen Cooper, believes this is the best prepared Arabian Gulf team to date and is looking forward to causing a few upsets at the November 27-29 tournament.
 
“We’ve been training well since the middle of June. We’ve had a lot of matches against Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan and we’ve had a training camp with the South African coaching team over here which has been great,” said Cooper, who will lead his side to the Singapore Sevens at the beginning of November in final preparation for the Dubai tournament which acts as the opening leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.
 
“Obviously there are still a few shortcomings but hopefully we can sort those out in Singapore. After that we have a week training in South Africa as well so we’ll be good to go after that. I think this is the best prepared team we’ve had,” he added.
 
The Arabian Gulf side has benefited from linking up with the Springbok Sevens coach, Paul Treu, who led his side to victory in Dubai in 2006. “Having the South African team helping us out has had a huge impact. I think each and every individual has taken something from it. We have never had this caliber of coaching available in this region before. Our current coach, Mike Lunjevich, has done a great job but I think even he’s learnt a thing or two. Paul Treu just has an amazing ability to clarify things and make them simple.”
 
Cooper described his team as quietly confident. They thrilled the home crowd two years ago by springing a surprise in defeating Kenya in the pool stages. “I think that was the Arabian Gulf’s first victory in the tournament for years so that was a massive step forward, which we unfortunately couldn’t repeat last year, but hopefully we can cause another upset this year. The good thing with sevens is that anything can happen for you on the day,” said Cooper.
 
Another massive step forward for the team this year is the inclusion of their first Emirati player, Mohammad Rahma, who made the switch from football to rugby just three years ago. “Mohammad is doing so well. He’s a great asset to the team as it’s really important to get more locals involved in the game,” said the captain, who is looking forward to playing at the new Emirates purpose-built venue, The Sevens.
 
“I think the new venue will really have a world-class feeling to it and it’s going to be a fantastic experience altogether,” added Cooper.
 
The Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens takes place at The Sevens, on the Dubai-Al Ain Rd, just beyond the Outlet Mall from November 27-29, 2008. There are 15,000 parking spaces available at the new venue and buses will be working overtime to transport fans from the venue back into various locations in Dubai over the weekend.
 
Gary Chapman, President Group Services and Dnata, Emirates Group, said: “With just over a month to go, everything is falling into place as preparations are well on track to welcome the world to The Sevens for three days of spectacular sporting action.”
 
“The organisers of the event are working overtime to ensure this will be the biggest and best Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens to date,” added Chapman.
 
For more information on the tournament, log onto www.dubairugby7s.com.
 

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