A much-changed Exiles earned the Dubai bragging rights as they beat Hurricanes 26-9 in the city derby on Friday night.

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After a scrappy 14-5 triumph against Jebel Ali Dragons on opening night, new head coach Jacques Benade was happy to see a more fluid performance from his men against Canes, who had swept to a 32-14 win against Al Ain Amblers a week ago.

Exiles built an early 9-0 lead at 7he Sevens thanks to three Durandt Gerber penalties. Canes reduced the gap to 9-6 with two penalties of their own before Exiles clicked into gear.

Scrum-half Ed Armitage scored the game’s first try while centre Kenneth du Plessis, one of a whole host of new names Benade has introduced, also went over, with Gerber converting both and adding another penalty for a 16-point haul.

Prior to the game Benade had labelled his side as underdogs, so he was delighted with his side’s performance.

“Two from two, which is brilliant for us. Perhaps we were maybe a bit more structured and clever,” said the South African. “The backs played really well and our scrum and line-out was excellent, it was a good all-round performance.”

Benade is refusing to get carried away though and is sticking to his plan of wanting to win each game as it comes, which is probably a sensible idea as Exiles now face five away games on the bounce, starting with successive trips to Abu Dhabi where they face Saracens next week before facing Harlequins in two weeks’ time.

“I don’t think we would have been given a chance beforehand so maybe the lads will start believing now in what we want to do,” said Benade. “I’m delighted to see that the hard work is starting to come off and I’m delighted with this win.”