Abu Dhabi Harlequins made light of a raft of absentees to demolish city rival Saracens 55-3 and claim the inaugural Capital Cup.
Quins – who were without star fly-half Jeremy Manning as well as his half-back partner Patrick Hegarty and fellow UAE sevens internationals Murray Strang and Imad Reyal – fell behind to an early penalty.
However, that was as good as it got for Sarries at the Al Ghazal Golf Club, as last year’s Gulf Top Six winners ran in eight unanswered tries.
Rama Chand and Phil Vorster both grabbed a brace of touchdowns, while there were also scores for Ed Lewsey, Matt Hutchens, Clendon Pene and Malcolm Greenslade.
Hutchens also added six conversions and a penalty to take his personal tally for the match to 20 points.
“They came out of the blocks fast and threw the kitchen sink at us but our guys defended well,” Quins director of rugby Chris Davies said.
“I was very happy with the result, some guys stood up from the second team. A lot of guys put their hand up and that will give me and Kieren Blogg a lot to think about.”
Davies added: “The guys showed a lot of courage and pride and played well. And that shows what we’re doing on the training ground is paying off.”
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