Doha, March 20, 2009
The 3pm kick-off came in bright sunshine, 32 degrees, and a tail/crosswind when viewed left to right from the clubhouse and grandstand. Hurricanes won the toss and took first advantage of the wind, but they arrived with only sixteen players so needed early territory and points.
It was Doha who were first to score though, after only 120 seconds when vice-captain Winnie Cowie finished a loose play inter-passing move and used blindside pressure to charge through a few remaining defenders.
Doha knew there was a likelihood of Hurricane’s excellent kicker punishing them if they gave away penalties, and just two minutes later, this prediction proved correct as the visitors slotted three points forty five metres out in front. 5-3 to the hosts.
Five minutes later it was action-replay and although Doha were already showing signs of forward dominance, Hurricanes kicked further long-range penalties in the ninth and twenty-first minutes to go out to a lead of 11-5 and Doha were lacking a little urgency.
For Doha, flanker Mark Hibbs made a brilliant crashing and weaving run of thirty metres up the middle of the field, and wing Dean Mitchell did the same before missing a chance to finish off another exciting attack with a dropped pass, but Doha were also pushing too many 50-50 off-loads and were their own worst enemies.
The Doha scrum was totally dominant when they wished with prop Nick Croker keeping his side well up on the Hurricane’s put-in, and the referee later commented that Croker and propping mate, Richard Liddington, were actually keeping the game flowing by holding up the Hurricane’s scrum and preventing the collapses.
Both teams were holding their own in the lineout, but although Doha’s running game was attempting more width than recent matches, it was their forward forays that were causing Hurricanes the most headaches.
The visitors’ backs, though, were constantly looking dangerous themselves and the Doha backs were giving them too much room. The last game Doha had played was away against the same opposition and they were exposed by the speed and width of the side-to-side switches until Doha were too thin on numbers in the defense line. This time Doha were smart enough to not commit such large numbers meaninglessly to rucks, but the loose forwards were too slow to get up and out into the visitors’ backs from set pieces.
So, although Doha were the more positive and dangerous–looking side, Hurricanes were surviving by using the stiff breeze to pump the ball deep into Doha’s half at every opportunity and almost held onto their lead up to half-time. Doha were not helping themselves by not hugging the touchline and blindsides whilst playing into the wind, so when they lost possession or put chip-kicks in that could not be contested for possession, Hurricanes were smart enough to make them pay by sending the ball well back behind them again.
One minute before the break, though, Kiwi loose forward Wayne Balsom (having his first start for Doha) was one of a bunch of forwards who scrambled for loose ball behind an upset Hurricanes scrum and he was the closest to the bounce as he slapped the ball down for a try.
Fly-half Jim Hamilton, who is about to head offshore to run a fund-raising six marathons in six days in the Sahara Desert, brilliantly slotted the sideline conversion so Doha deservedly led 12-11 at the break.
Doha made three pre-planned changes at half-time when Colm Coyle came on at fly-half just a day after returning from a business trip to Italy, and Hamilton’s newly arrived work-mate Anton Cramant came on to introduce the first sign of height into the Doha lineout since club stalwart Damian Gray retired three years ago. Lindsay Fitzgerald has returned from South Africa after two years absence and promises to display all the old speed at loose forward that we’ve seen before from the former track champion. They also switched backs Dean Mitchell and Danny Liddell in the three-quarters.
With the wind behind him, Coyle expertly used the assistance to get territorial pressure at every opportunity, with a favourable penalty count (by game’s end) of 12 to 6 helping significantly. After just eight more minutes, another determined Cowie burst saw him score close to the posts for Coyle to convert, Doha up 19-11.
Two minutes later, Captain Paul Caddick was part of a line-up of Doha backs that were given good ball, used the large blindside, and he had a clear twenty five metre run to the line with others unmarked outside him as well. The handy conversion was missed, so it was now Doha by 24-11, a bonus point in the bank, and Hurricanes were looking desperately tired.
The visitors were now also demanding uncontested scrums, just as they had done in the previous encounter between these two teams when Doha’s scrum was demolishing Hurricanes at will. The fact that Hurricanes had the legal requirement of five named and trained front rowers on their roster for the day, it was a cynical move to seek (and succeed) in this tactic again. One player had left the field, which still leaves them four available of their complement, so it is difficult to see how such a request can be granted. Their captain and usual hooker was playing at halfback, so it appears unlikely that they have a legitimate argument to request this adjustment in a crucial part of the game.
But Doha were getting a steady supply of their own set-piece ball, and with Cramant’s insertion, they were now also stealing significant amounts of the Hurricane’s lineout ball. Whenever a player scores three tries in game, it’s usually a winger, but in this match, it was number eight Cowie who got out of two days sick in bed to do just that in the fifteenth minute of the second half.
Inside centre Marty Veale planted a good conversion as just reward for all the extra practice that he, James Cotter, and Jim Hamilton regularly perform. Doha 31-11.
Caddick came off now with a sore leg and a worrying recurrence of the shoulder injury that caused him to miss all last season, and have an operation. He was replaced by James Cotter, having his first chance to get field time in his favourite position and deliver his long missile-like passes.
Fitzgerald was next to dot down with another loose-play raid, 36-11 up, and time for the bench to get a run so Frenchman Lilian Cance came on in place of Yorkshireman, Danny Liddell on the wing, and immediately made several busting runs. Hooker Kelly was shattered after being sick in bed all week, and even with his broken finger (prop Croker too, on his birthday), his lineout throws were spot on all day, the day before his birthday. He was relieved by reliable and fellow-Irishman, Hugh Flanagan, and a few minutes later, Doha welcomed back young Sam Walters who had last played for Doha front row when he was a teenager two years back. He gave Croker a rest with ten minutes to go.
Cramant was dominating the lineouts and proving what a huge asset he will turn out to be for Doha, which will now demand matching his soaring skills with a continuation of the excellent lineout throw-ins they currently enjoy through Kelly, Cowie and sub Johnny Wright when he gets another chance soon.
With five minutes to go, tough lock Gavin Piek found himself in a backline with a large overlap and he jogged around behind the posts to score, Veale added the extras, now a startling lead to Doha of 43-11.
Hurricanes had another few minutes with attacking raids, but Doha’s fresh legs had enough desire and concentration to hold out, and even retaliated themselves for elusive Coyle to make an excellent carving thirty metre run to the corner. Veale understood the significance of the conversion, and he stepped up to slot it successfully to reach the half-century, Doha 50, Hurricanes 11, a scoreline that could certainly not have been predicted against last season’s cup winners and several-times league champions, and an opponent that has not been beaten by Doha for four years.
This now means that Doha have so far beaten all three Dubai sides this season, remain unbeaten at home this season, and are still firmly in the running for the AGRFU league title. Next week, they travel away to Dubai Exiles, whom they have not beaten away in many years. The importance of the occasion is obvious.