McFarlane insists Harlequins won't let standards slip

Matt Jones - Editor 00:17 02/04/2017
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  • Quins celebrate claiming the West Asia Cup

    Mike McFarlane insists his players won’t let their standards drop as Abu Dhabi Harlequins go in search of the quintuple and a perfect season.

    Quins lifted a fourth crown of an immense 2016/17 on Friday as they became West Asia Cup champions following a 31-25 victory over battling Bahrain in Abu Dhabi.

    And they have the chance to cap a dream campaign when they meet Jebel Ali Dragons with the UAE Premiership title on the line at Dubai Sports City this Friday.

    “The boys will not let standards and expectations drop. They set the bar,” McFarlane said after his side completed the quadruple, with the Cup following glory in the West Asia Premiership, Dubai Sevens and Asia Rugby Western Clubs Champions League.

    “Quins have got a massive history and I doubt anyone has won four and certainly not five trophies. A fifth would be great but we need to take a minute to celebrate this.

    “Getting a fourth is unprecedented. It’s some effort, given the caliber of teams. It’s not a mickey mouse league, we’re playing some top teams.

    “Look at (neighbours Abu Dhabi) Saracens. We beat them by two points. OK the second game was a bigger score but they’ve been taking points off everyone, and they finished bottom. It just shows the standard. So to win four is a great effort.”

    In the end the scoreline flattered Bahrain as Louie Tonkin’s visitors scored two tries in the final two minutes to reduce the winning margin to six.

    But Quins only led by three with 15 minutes left having been dominated by the visitors in an under par first half – despite the fact they were level at the interval thanks to Luke Stevenson’s try minutes before the break.

    But McFarlane said there was never a concern his side could not turn on the style.

    He added: “We always set ourselves high standards. I think if any other team had put in that performance they would have thought ‘we’ve done alright here at 10-10’, but we were gutted.

    “The boys are honest with themselves and we were all 6 out of 10 and that’s not good enough. I said in the circle only come out if you’re going to be 9 out of 10 by the end of the game, and they all stepped up. They ran themselves into the wall and that’s all you can expect.

    “I think there’s been one game this season where I’ve had to give them a kick up the arse. They know themselves and that’s where you get performances like that.

    “I knew there was more to come, 100 per cent. We didn’t get out of second gear, I don’t think we were ever under threat really. The defensive work really paid off.

    “We were a bit naïve and clumsy at time, chucking away ball, and that’s unlike us, but it was our focus in the second half. We tightened the game up, developed a few more phases and we were a much better team.”

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