Doha have lost numbers but still aiming for play-offs

Abu Dhabi Harlequins, who pushed Exiles all the way last term, will also be stronger, as will neighbours Saracens and Dubai Hurricanes.

The cross-border West Asia Premiership competition, meanwhile, spans the whole season in 2016/17, meaning the UAE clubs also come into contact with Doha and Bahrain earlier than usual.

Benade insists there will be no easy games, although he has warned his rivals that Exiles are even better than last season ahead of Doha’s visit to The Sevens this weekend.

“It was a big season last year and I don’t think anyone expected that to happen,” said Benade.

“What happened last year was special but it is over. We started from scratch and are still busy building something special at the club.

“I cannot compliment enough the players’ attitude and commitment and because of that I believe we can go in to the season with confidence.

“We just want to focus on Doha this weekend and then focus on the next game. It is going to be a tough but I will say that we are stronger definitely due to our depth in quality of players this year and it was very difficult to pick a team for the Doha game.”

Bar for Benade and his persuasive powers, last season’s double success might have failed to materialise, with scrum-half Ed Armitage on the verge of signing for Hurricanes before Benade sat down with him.

Far from basking in the glow of last term’s glory, Benade is not content with just one season of silverware.

“The previous four years at the club had just not been good enough and the players were not happy,” he said.

“At the start of last season we had to recruit really hard and ask some of the experienced players to stay and give it one more season. Ed Armitage almost signed at Hurricanes but luckily I convinced him to stay and he was instrumental in our success.

“We started from scratch and are still busy building something special at the club. We have a special group of players and supporters and we all agreed on the same principles, training schedule, standards and where we want to be in three years.”

Other stars of last season like lock Rinus Bothma, teenage centre Tom Stapley and midfield partner Phillip Snyman have departed, but Benade has retained 80 per cent of the squad, with Glenn Moore once again captaining the side. String-puller Durandt Gerber also remains.

Doha’s New Zealand coach Aaron Palmer looked as if he was off at the start of the summer, but agreed to remain in charge, although it is all change at The Fortress.

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A total of 17 players have departed Qatar, including Kiwi full-back Aaron McLelland who was arguably the best player in the Gulf region last season.

In come Luke Masirewa, who has played for the All Blacks 7s, from Waikato, and Nicky Steyn, a former Currie Cup player for Griffons and the Free State Cheetahs in South Africa.

“We’re at Exiles this weekend and we couldn’t ask for a better start than to face the defending champions on their home pitch,” said Palmer.

“That probably makes us underdogs but you can bet we’ll be up for it.

We have lost 17 players who would have regularly played first team rugby for us last season so we have a big hole to fill in some positions.”

Despite the departures, Palmer is still setting his goals high, beginning with a top four place that will secure a WAP playoff berth.

“Our expectations would be to first secure a top four place out of the round robin and then take the semi-final and final one game at a time,” added Palmer.

“We lobbied for this eight team, two round competition so are excited by the level of rugby we’ll have each week, and we’ll be looking to be at the head of the table come playoff time.

“We will continue to build our squad and look at improvements and gelling what is essentially a new group of players over the coming weeks.”