James Ham and Jacques Benade both feel Dubai Hurricanes are favourites as they meet Exiles in the Dubai derby at 7he Sevens.

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Both teams began the UAE Premiership season brightly last week, a late try for Benade’s Exiles securing a 14-5 win against Jebel Ali Dragons while inspired second half substitutions eventually saw Canes breeze to a 32-14 victory against new boys Al Ain Amblers.

After a disappointing 2014-15 campaign, Canes coach Ham is delighted to see Exiles back to winning ways, although he hopes that won’t be the case tomorrow.

“It’s good to see an Exiles team that are competitive this season, however, after a strong bonus point win, we have structures which will allow a great squad to play some very good looking rugby,” said Ham. “I believe that will be too much for Exiles to control. There will be some changes, some forced through injury and some due to players stepping up.”

After a narrow win last week, South African Benade feels his side need to step up a gear.

“This will be a completely different challenge,” he said. “Canes were very strong last year and they will go in as favourites. We worked hard on issues from last week we were not happy about and hopefully we can correct them. We know we need to step up against a very good team.”

Michael Stubbs is out with a hamstring injury but Benade hopes to have Charlie Sargent back after his exploits with the UAE sevens team in Thailand.