Mens Senior First XV

Our 1st XV has a proud tradition having been multiple winners of the various championships up for grabs in rugby in the region. Our top side presently competes in two season-long competitions; the AGRFU Cup Competition (along with our 2nd XV) and the Gulf-wide AGRFU Premiership. The AGRFU Premiership involves eight teams based in the Gulf countries of the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain who play each other in a home and away competition.

Dubai Exiles RFC 1st XV after a home victory in 2008

Additionally the club enters several teams in to our very own hugely popular annual Dubai Sevens that is played in conjunction with the IRB World Sevens Series in December of each year. Our first team are regular finalists in the Gulf Trophy at the Sevens playing in front of 35,000 rugby fans in 2007 and a whopping 50,000 in 2008. In fact in one particularly strong season for the club in 2005 the 2nd XV reached the final of the Gulf Trophy at the Dubai Sevens. In the final it locked horns with none other than its 1st XV team mates in front of 25,000 people (in the all-Exiles final the club's 1st XV took Trophy honors 35-5).

Other 7s, 10s and 15s tournaments round off the season (which runs from Sept – April) as well as matches against visiting Naval ships (a rugby tradition in the region) and our club's annual Chairman's Match which often see invited international rugby stars of past and present donning the Exiles playing jersey/jumper/shirt alongside our own regular 1st and 2nd team 'stars'. The club also has an annual club day held shortly after the New Year with the Stuart Vowles Memorial Match.

An increasing number of our 1st XV are home grown talent having come through our strong junior program.

Our current 1st XV contains players with some impressive playing CV’s; five of our players recently played for the Arabian Gulf in the IRB Dubai Sevens and in the IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens which was hosted at our Headquarters in March 2009. Ten of our squad were also part of the historic inaugural Asian Five Nations in 2008 playing fully sanctioned Test matches against Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan. In addition we have on our playing roster former representatives of Kenya, Portugal and Scotland ‘A’ as well as squad members with Super League, Heineken Cup, Currie Cup and New Zealand NPC experience. 

Our 1st XV caters to all those enthusiastic to play regularly… from young aspiring 1st XV players to experienced elite players wanting to continue participating at a competitive level.

Exiles 1st XV players Marthinus Neethling and Stephen Cooper putting the hard yards in at an off-season training session

All aspiring Dubai Exiles players (and interested support staff such as coaches, managers, medics etc) are welcomed. In the first instance please contact our Club Administrator by email: adminstrator@dubaiexiles.com or telephone +971 (0)50 4598603.