KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysia Rugby (MR) honorary secretary Suhaimi Zainuddin has warned of the threat posed by United Arab Emirates in this year's Asia Rugby Championship (ARC).
Suhaimi said Malaysia cannot afford to take UAE lightly despite have beaten them on a number of occasions in the past.
Asia Rugby (AR) have expanded the ARC top flight to four teams this year and have subsquently promoted UAE despite the ARC Division One competition not being held last year.
Malaysia and UAE will compete alongside South Korea and Hong Kong in the competition which will be held in June.
"We have not played UAE in a while and have also not been able to watch them play recently as the Division One competition was not held last year," said Suhaimi when contacted recently.
"I am anticipating a tough match against them.
"When we played them previously, they had limited the number of naturalised or expatriate players in their team.
"But I believe they will not be doing the same (limiting naturalised players) in the top-tier this year.
"We need to be well prepared when we play them them."
Malaysia had beaten UAE 36-22 during the ARC Division One competition in 2017, the year the national team earned promotion to the top flight.
In 2015, Malaysia edged UAE 20-19 in the ARC Division Two comepetition.
Suhaimi believes that it would be wise to strengthen the national squad with a few naturalised players.
The Bunga Raya squad featured only one naturalised player - Lee Chapman (England) - in last year's ARC campaign.
"I am not asking to fill the squad with naturalised players but having at least two or there will boost our local players confidence levels," said Suhaimi.
Malaysia is scheduled to open against defending champions Hong Kong on June 1 in Malaysia, followed by away matches against South Korea on June 8 and UAE on June 22.
It is believed that the Malaysia vs UAE match has been scheduled last as it will likely double as a relegation play-off.
Malaysia has never beaten South Korea or Hong Kong in the competition before.
