UAE face stern test against Sri Lanka in five-nations rugby
Both Sri Lanka and t he UAE know that their best chance of remaining in the elite competition next year will be to win this game
survival will be the name of the game for both the UAE and Sri Lanka as the 2011 HSBC Asian Five Nations Top Five competition gets underway in Colombo on Saturday.
In the weekend's other match Kazakhstan and Hong Kong will battle it out in Almaty for a win and crucial points on the series table.
Both Sri Lanka and t he UAE know that their best chance of remaining in the elite competition next year will be to win this game, for the rest of the opposition - defending champions Japan, last year's runner-up Kazakhstan, and third-place Hong Kong - might be bridges too difficult to cross.
Sri Lanka is making its Top Five debut after winning the HSBC Asian Five Nations Division I in 2010, while the UAE Rugby Association (UAERA) is replacing the former regional representative, the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union, in the Top 5 in 2011.
"It is a new beginning for us and a new history. For the first time, our players will be representing the country and I'm very confident we will do well," said Qais Abdullah Al Dhalai, deputy general secretary, UAE RA.
"We were given two options by the Asian Rugby Football Union when we formed the UAERA. They said we could either continue in the Top Five competition and take the place of the Arabian Gulf, or we could start from the bottom in Division Five. We obviously choose to stay in the big league. Our goal is now to remain there," Al Dhalai added
"We must return with something from Sri Lanka," said Ian Bremner, chief executive, UAERA.
"If we don't win our first game, we will be running up a slope for the remaining matches. Lose and we will have our backs a little bit to the wall," he added.
"We are playing away to Hong Kong and while we have home advantage against Kazakhstan, we lost to them last year. Our best chance of staying in the Top Five next season will be to beat the new boys in the big league - Sri Lanka," Bremmer said.
Keeping their Top Five spot is the minimum requirement coach Bruce Birtwistle has set his team, although only five players have been retained from last year's Arabian Gulf XV which finished fourth in the competition with wins over Hong Kong and South Korea.
Easier said than done, with coach Birtwistle grappling with a reduced pool of players as well as the loss of key individuals like scrumhalf Jonny MacDonald, who has gone on to represent Scotland in sevens.
"We used to be able to draw players from Bahrain, Oman and Qatar in the past, but no more," said New Zealander Birtwistle, who had been in charge of the Arabian Gulf in the last two campaigns at the HSBC Asian Five Nations.
"We have also lost players who have left the region, like MacDonald who has joined Scotland and played at the Hong Kong Sevens and Adelaide Sevens. His loss is huge," Birtwistle said.
Opening match action kicks off at 16.00 local time in both Colombo and Almaty. The Sri Lanka versus UAE tie will be shown live on ESPN Star Sports throughout the region.
