Dubai Exiles prop Kristian Stinson says the fact the club celebrates its 50th anniversary this year has
The oldest club in the UAE was behind the creation of the now world-famous Dubai Rugby Sevens, but while the tournament has gone on to greatness, its founders have fallen on hard times in recent years.
That all changed at the weekend though when a 92-22 beating of Dubai rivals Hurricanes saw them claim the West Asia Championship title.
Northern Irishman Stinson has been through the dark days with the club and admitted it’s fitting to return to prominence in such a poignant season.
“The 50th anniversary, it was always in the back of our minds, but when the West Asia Championship title started to become a reality it was more of a driving force,” said the 30-year-old, who has been in the Emirates for nearly a decade.
“It’s good for a club of this stature, with this heritage, to have gone through dark days to end as West Asia Champions. It’s unbelievable. When you see where we were last year, we were playing Gulf Conference rugby.”
Stinson is an Exiles stalwart, having moved across Dubai five years ago from Hurricanes after they had just been crowned West Asia champions themselves.
And, while much has been made of the raft of new arrivals that followed new director of rugby Jacques Benade to the club in the summer, including former Italy A fly-half Durandt Gerber, Stinson is just one of many reminders that while they may be new and improved, Exiles have been forged from the disappointment and
despair of previous years.
“A lot’s been said of the new players but there’s a core of boys at the club,” said Stinson.
“There’s me, Ed Armitage, Jonny Forbes, Justin Walsh, Glenn Moore, Charlie Sargent, Ryan and Danny Rapallo. These boys have been here for a long time. It’s not just all the new boys.
“When you have a nucleus of boys who know where the club’s been it helps to grind in the new boys and tell them this is what it means to us, so they buy into it.”