Jebel Ali Dragons coach Ross Mills believes his side “got out of jail” by only losing 34-7 to the Abu Dhabi Harlequins in their Gulf Top Six opener.

The Dragons have dominated regional club rugby for the past 18 months but their defence of the Gulf Top Six title got off to a nightmare start when they were thrashed in the UAE capital at the weekend.

Without key players such as Murray Strang and Imad Reyal, they were powerless in the face of a superb display by Quins.

So much so in fact that coach Mills admitted: “I think we got out of jail. It should have been a lot more.

“I’m sure they’ll admit that they put out the strongest team they have all season.

“It’s nothing, but we put out probably the weakest team we have put out since I started coaching the Dragons.

“They had a very good gameplan which they stuck to, we made a lot of mistakes and they executed very well. All credit to them, they’ve obviously been working hard since the end of the UAE Premiership, it’s only the first game but they looked very good.

“They were good and we were poor, but I think we were poor due to the way they played.”

It can’t be said that Mills isn’t gracious in defeat. The Englishman has already won the UAE Premiership in his first season in charge of the Dragons and will be looking to repeat last year’s feat by lifting the Gulf Top Six again this season.

Fortunately, the Dragons have a history of coming back in this competition but the defeat has got them off on the wrong foot with a difficult pair of back-toback away games at Doha and Bahrain in the coming weeks.

Mills isn’t pressing any panic buttons yet, but admits his side need to win their difficult away fixtures.

“It’s the first game after Christmas,” added Mills. “We’re hurting after that and as coach I take responsibility. Am I worried about the Gulf Top Six? No.

“As a club we finished second last year, five or six points off the Quins at the top and still won it. There are nine more games to go.

“It’s disappointing but everyone has a bad day at the office and I would rather have it in the first week of the Top Six than in the last week.

“It’s not ideal, we’re very upset in our performance but I’m sure we’ll put it right. As a competition it’s the hardest one to win. No disrespect to Wasps and the Exiles but there is the top four UAE teams plus Doha and Bahrain.

“We could sit here and feel sorry for ourselves because we have Bahrain away next week and then Doha away the week after.

“The draw hasn’t been particularly kind to us but we might as well do it sooner rather than later.

“The issue would be if we went to Bahrain and Doha and lost, then things would be really tough for us.”