Jacques Benade ends stint as Dubai Exiles coach after decade of excellence at UAE’s oldest rugby club

South African, who is also in charge of the UAE national team, has stepped away but says he will remain a keen supporter of the club

UAE national team coach Jacques Benade. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Jacques Benade says he is “going to miss it so badly” but added now is the right time to end his highly successful stint as head coach of Dubai Exiles.

The South African has been in charge of the UAE’s oldest rugby club for nine years. During that time, they have been the most consistently competitive side in the country.

He took them to three West Asia Premiership finals, winning in 2017, while they also won three UAE Premiership titles on his watch, as well as the Dubai Sevens in 2017 and 2021.

Benade is also the UAE coach. He is currently readying the national team for a tilt at World Cup qualification via the Asian Rugby Championship, which starts with a fixture against Hong Kong in Dubai on Saturday June 14.

“It will feel strange to sit at home on Saturday – my wife will love it, I’m sure,” Benade said of his decision to step down from the Exiles.

“It will feel strange not to see the boys but I’m sure I will be there supporting all the teams.

“I am going to miss the boys, but I do think it will be good for them to get someone new in, and rebuild, and see where we want to go.

UAE national team coach Jacques Benade oversees training in Dubai. Benade has stepped down as coach of Dubai Exiles. All images Chris Whiteoak / The National

Justin Walsh trains with the UAE national rugby team ahead of the Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship.

UAE's Andrew Semple trains at Tigers Park in Dubai

The UAE national rugby team train in Dubai

UAE's Matt Mills prepares for training

The UAE national rugby team train for the Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship

Andrew Semple trains with UAE teammates

“The club is in a good place at the moment. There are a lot of good players there, and I wish all the best to whoever is going to take over as they are good quality people.”

Benade, who first started coaching when he was 31, remains in charge of rugby at Dubai College, and is grateful to coach for a living.

“It has been 25 years and this is what I love,” Benade said. “I think I am very fortunate to be able to do something that I love every day.

“School is getting tougher, there is more competition, and rugby overall in the UAE is getting better. There are very good coaches everywhere.

“I am going to miss it so badly, but I think it is the right time. With every coach, I think they need to realise there is a time to move on and look at something different.”

Typically, rugby clubs in the region have enjoyed waves of success but found it difficult to sustain over long periods of time.

Dubai Hurricanes, for example, are the reigning UAE and West Asia champions after a remarkable end to last season, but two years earlier they had been playing second tier rugby.

Benade himself took over an Exiles team in 2016 who had just won a double of trophies, having been on their knees not long before.

I do think it will be good for them to get someone new in and rebuild

Jacques Benade

In 2012, the Exiles had been forced to withdraw from the top flight of domestic rugby while the season was running due to a lack of numbers.

Jan Venter, Benade’s predecessor as coach, got the club back on a successful footing, but he handed over a side who were again set for transition.

“I’ll never forget when I first arrived and got a list of players from Jan Venter at the Exiles,” Benade said.

“I phoned them all, and finished up with 12 boys who were still playing rugby. Everybody else had just left.

“From not knowing what was going on, we started recruiting, got an unbelievably good team together, and to win the double in my first year was just immense.”

It was a feature of Benade’s spell at the Exiles that their standards rarely slipped, and they consistently challenged for trophies.

Whether they can maintain that after he has left remains to be seen, but he believes they are a club in good health.

“We have an old team at the moment,” Benade said. “Matt Mills [the UAE co-captain] and some of those boys started with me 10 years ago. It is unbelievable.

“They have been really good working together but it is also sometimes hard to recruit when you have a really settled team. [Other players] can’t see a way in and they don’t want to leave other clubs.

“Also, you work so hard, and we really wanted to go for the double this year, but we lost at the end against a Hurricanes team who just never stop playing rugby.

“But I had an unbelievable 10 years, and I absolutely love the club. It is a great club.”

Jon Ebbitt, the club’s former general manager, said Benade had left behind “an incredible legacy” at the Exiles.

“Arguably Jacques’ most important legacy at the club is the structure and player pathway that he implemented during his tenure as the Exiles’ director of rugby,” Ebbitt said.

“Owing to [that], many Exiles’ mini and youth, boys and girls, as well as men and women, have come through the pathway to represent the UAE on the international stage.”

Ebbitt pointed out that, during the 2022-23 season, 34 Exiles represented the UAE at Under 18, Under 20, or senior levels in competitions across Asia.

Benade said that player development has been one of the highlights of the job, while it is “most rewarding seeing players go into coaching as well, from what they have learnt from you”.