There were winning starts for Bahrain and Abu Dhabi Saracens on the opening night in the two West Asia Premiership matches where all four teams had new coaches.

It was a rough start for former dual code international star Henry Paul as his Jebel Ali Dragons took the lead in Bahrain before going down to a heavy 51-10 defeat as their new coach Louie Tonkin got off to the perfect start.

The visitors led early on thanks to a converted try but the hosts hit back with two scores to lead 20-7 at the interval.

They cut loose in the second half in front of a buoyant home crowd, scoring four more tries as Welshman Tonkin’s reign got off to the best possible start.

Sarries, meanwhile, picked up maximum points from their trip to the Garden City as they returned to the capital with a 45-3 victory against Al Ain Amblers.

It was a fine start for Winston Cowie in charge of Sarries in Al Ain as Niekie Van Blerk’s men were brushed aside. Cowie’s men had a bonus point in the bag before the break with South African flanker Jonny Taylor going over for a brace of tries in the first half, including the opener.