Both teams are hurting after defeats last week, with Exiles beaten 19-17 at Dubai Hurricanes, while Dragons tasted defeat in Doha, losing 23-16.

Dragons travelled to Qatar depleted by visa issues and are expected to be back to full strength, while their players are not fooled by a lacklustre start to the West Asia Premiership campaign by the reigning UAE and West Asia champions.

“We aren’t restricted in our selection this week which will help but we will need to be at our best if we want to give ourselves a chance of a win,” said scrum-half and skipper Ross Samson. “Exiles will be hurting after their loss so it should be a cracker of a game.”

Director of rugby and prop Paul Hart added: “I think that there will be a blacklash from both teams as we both lost last week and both clubs will feel it should have been two wins.

“We are very excited to test ourselves against last year’s champions and measure how far we have progressed.”

Exiles scrum-half Ed Armitage, meanwhile, admits some soul-searching has been done by the club this week in the wake of a second defeat of the season last Friday.

Jacques Banade’s men have looked a shadow of the side that stormed to two titles last season, even looking poor in their two victories.

“We took a hard look at ourselves this week in training,” said Armitage. “If we can stick to our structures we are a tough team to beat and we’ve got a great squad to choose from this week, with a number of the second team playing well and pushing players in certain positions.

“We’re looking forward to Dragons away, which is always a fiery game. I’m sure they’ll be looking to bounce back after the loss to Doha.”