They already have the Dubai Sevens title in the trophy cabinet with two more finals to come, but Jacques Benade insists he will be disappointed if Dubai Exiles don’t win at least one more piece of silverware this season.
Exiles stormed to an unexpected 19-12 win against Jebel Ali Dragons in December to lift a maiden Gulf Men’s League title in 11 years at the Sevens. And after a tumultuous 2016/17 season, the team who won the West Asia Championship and UAE Premiership a year earlier are now facing the prospect of possibly winning the treble.
Benade takes his charges to Saar this Friday to face Bahrain in the West Asia Cup final, while the curtain comes down on the domestic season on April 13 with Exiles clashing with old foes Abu Dhabi Harlequins in the UAE Premiership final.
And despite already winning one trophy this season, Benade admitted failure to add another one would leave a sour taste.
“For me it will be a disappointing season if we don’t get one of the next two, because you want to have something to show for all the hard work at the end of the season,” Benade said after his side booked their place in the West Asia final following a 31-20 victory in a pulsating encounter with Dragons in Jebel Ali last Friday.
“I think the players deserve it. They deserve all the credit. To travel up to The Sevens twice a week for training and play on Friday is not easy. They have careers so it’s a massive commitment. So for them I would love to see them win a cup. It will be disappointing for all of us if we don’t.
“Although, whatever happens, I think we can still look back on a magical season. At Christmas everyone wrote us off and after last season we thought we were going the same way. But we made a massive step up and we’re building to a great end to the season.”
Dubai Exiles claimed the West Asia Championship and UAE Premiership double in 2015/16.
Victory on Friday instilled confidence again following a 28-25 defeat to Quins in the inaugural UAE Premiership Cup final a week earlier.
Benade added: “We felt we did enough to win last week so it was hard to pick the boys up this week and come here.”
It’s been a turnaround year for Exiles. In fact, you could say it’s been a turnaround season for Benade’s boys.
They ripped Dubai Eagles to shreds on opening night of the West Asia Premiership and then dispatched Dubai Hurricanes, only to then fall by the wayside as three defeats followed to Dragons, Bahrain and Quins.
That trio surged ahead in contention for the West Asia Premiership. But a combination of elements combined to see Exiles roar back into the title picture.
They claimed a gritty if shock win over Dragons in the Sevens final, which provided a spark for the second half of the campaign. The top teams all took points off each other in a thrilling three weeks in January and early February, which included Exiles earning fine 35-15 and 37-30 victories over Dragons and Quins respectively.
Benade, who was appointed in July 2015, revealed that success came earlier than expected, with a three-year plan towards silverware plotted with the club’s hierarchy.
Cross border and domestic glory arrived in that maiden campaign, meaning failure last season was tough to take.
“We always said this was a three-year plan and it’ll only work if we win something at the end of the three years. It’s good to be in three finals,” said Benade, who acknowledged a decision to deter attracting big players for money in favour of developing local talent took time to bear fruit.
“The first year we had some South Africans came over and I think they maybe pushed us over the line. Maybe the overall level was not where it should be.
“This year all the boys are here to play rugby. Everyone has a job and a work visa and they’re local guys, with some boys coming from school too, like Rory Arnold. There’s no paying players, which is a decision we made after the first year. It was not something we could sustain.
Jacques Benade.
“They all bought into this new philosophy. I think we’ve signed the right boys and hopefully we can build on this next year.”
Exiles have thrived even in the face of several injuries and players playing out of position. A case in point is Argentine lock Tomas Sackmann who has played almost exclusively on the wing in 2018.
“We put a lot of emphasis on skill and we try to make the players comfortable with ball in hand. We tried to be tactical with players and see them develop,” added Benade, who will be sweating on UAE Number 8 Jaen Botes’ availability for Friday after his fellow South African was red-carded against Dragons after being shown a second yellow for retaliation.
“We need to look at Jaen because I don’t think it was a yellow card personally, so hopefully we can get that overturned otherwise he’ll miss the final.”
