Arabian Gulf Sevens captain Stephen Cooper believes that the coaching aid of South Africa Sevens coach Paul Treu has produced the best-prepared Gulf Sevens squad ever.
Cooper and his side have enlisted Treu's help ahead of the IRB Sevens World Series opener in Dubai on 28-29 November and will compete alongside his SA Vipers team at the Singapore Sevens this weekend.
Coach Mike Lunjevich, Cooper and the rest of the Gulf players have only yet benefited from the first of three link-ups with the Springbok Sevens guru, but believe themselves capable of winning a first match in Dubai since 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 calibre of coaching available in this region before,” explained Cooper.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
Despite the preparations, Cooper and his teammates still face a daunting set of matches on day one in Dubai. South Africa lie in wait, as do fellow 'core' Series sides Kenya and Scotland.
