After a stunning 13-12 win over reigning West Asia Cup champions Abu Dhabi Saracens on opening day, Bahrain are looking to ruffle a few more feathers in this season’s West Asia Championship.
Bahrain suffered nine defeats in 10 Gulf Top 6 games last season to earn the tag of whipping boys, but they stormed out of the blocks in the revamped West Asia Championship competition on Friday by consigning Sarries to just a second home defeat in nearly a year-and-a-half.
New team manager Ian Davies says there has been a shift in ideology over the summer, which is beginning to bear fruit.
“There’s a change in the ethos and the thinking among the first team squad. None of the guys are professional players but ultimately we’re trying to train like a professional team, trying to believe and think like a professional team,” said Davies.
Sarries led 7-3 at Al Ghazal for much of a tight game before Bahrain took the lead following an excellent kick and chase from full-back Ollie Luke, which led to a turnover and prop Ollie Sanson crashing over.
Sarries threatened to snatch it at the death following Vito Tuivione’s try but Stephen Hamilton’s missed conversion from the touchline handed Bahrain a famous victory.
Davies and his cohorts were delirious, although he claims the club will not get too carried away.
“Ollie Sanson’s try just shows the heart and commitment of the team,” said Davies.
“We’re trying to build that esprit de corps that you see in good teams, where the guys will do anything for each other, and we saw that (on Friday), so I think we’re going in the right direction.”
A year ago, Bahrain enjoyed only one win in the GT6, against Jebel Ali Dragons, as they finished rock bottom with just eight points.
“We’re just going to try and step up from last year and prove our worth, which we did against Saracens,” said Davies.
“People will be taking note of this result and that’s fantastic. We’ve got a fantastic home crowd so we can expect to see an excellent crowd next week against Dubai Exiles on the back of this win.”
Davies heaped praise on everyone but himself and is looking forward to what Bahrain can produce during the rest of the competition.
“It’s really down to the senior players and the two coaches, Shane Stapleton (who has since moved to Muscat) and Tom Ham,” added Davies. “They’ve changed the professionalism of the club. There was a big turnaround in thinking during the summer. Captain Adam Wallace came in on day one and said ‘we’ll forget about the last season and we go on from here’.
“We brought in a new management structure, some new coaches, and tried to reinvigorate the squad and get the players believing in themselves.
“(Friday’s win) was the first performance where we’ve hit it for 80 minutes. As we saw last season, 60 minutes isn’t enough when you’re competing against quality sides like the Sarries.
“Throughout, the defence and line speed was great and the commitment, I can’t fault any of the guys. If we keep pushing in this direction, who knows where we can go.”