Abu Dhabi Saracens will hope their latest new era continues the way it started when they face their city rivals Harlequins on Friday.
They are heading into their second match under the guidance of interim player-coach James Tirrell with a 100 per cent record.
Rugby in this region is always said to be transient in nature, but Saracens have taken that theory to the extreme this season.
The chairman and captain roles at the club have new incumbents since the summer, with Dougie Steele now the leader on the field after Lele Tusitala was forced to retire because of injury.
They are on their third coach, too, after Tirrell, who is here on a month’s loan from his role as a rugby development officer with the English Premiership club Saracens, took charge at the weekend.
Having installed Steve Evans as a successor to Steve Botha, the men in black were left scouring for a new man when Evans headed back to the UK recently.
As such, the arrival of Tirrell and Josh Sharp, a young fly-half also from the London club, was a timely one.
They landed here at the end of February and played a part in the first victory in the cross-border Gulf Top Six for Abu Dhabi's youngest club – the 21-18 win over Dubai Hurricanes last Friday.
“It has been nice having James and Josh around, and they have certainly added a different dimension,” said Alistair Thompson, the Saracens No 8.
“Training has been very sharp this week and we are looking forward to what we know is going to be a tough game.”
Tirrell, whose role as a director of rugby in the domestic game in the UK does not allow much time for playing, will start at scrum-half against the unbeaten league leaders.
“I was told I was coming to Abu Dhabi on the Tuesday and I was here on the Monday,” said Tirrell, 26.
“I got told I was playing more or less as I was boarding the plane and it was lucky I brought my boots. And I got a try at the weekend, so I was happy with that.
“In terms of coaching, it is about using the experience of senior players and I hope I have managed to come in and instil some belief.”
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Duminy's Test career in numbers
Tests 46; Runs 2,103; Best 166; Average 32.85; 100s 6; 50s 8; Wickets 42; Best 4-47
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- 1917 - Pippa Harris, Callum McDougall, Sam Mendes, Jayne-Ann Tenggren
- THE IRISHMAN - Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Martin Scorsese, Emma Tillinger Koskoff
- JOKER - Bradley Cooper, Todd Phillips, Emma Tillinger Koskoff
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- PARASITE - Bong Joon-ho, Kwak Sin-ae
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- JOKER - Todd Phillips
- ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD - Quentin Tarantino
- PARASITE - Bong Joon-ho
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
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- BAIT - Mark Jenkin, Kate Byers, Linn Waite
- FOR SAMA - Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts
- ROCKETMAN - Dexter Fletcher, Adam Bohling, David Furnish, David Reid, Matthew Vaughn, Lee Hall
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- THE IRISHMAN - Steven Zaillian
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EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
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CINEMATOGRAPHY
- 1917 - Roger Deakins
- THE IRISHMAN - Rodrigo Prieto
- JOKER - Lawrence Sher
- LE MANS ’66 - Phedon Papamichael
- THE LIGHTHOUSE - Jarin Blaschke
EDITING
- THE IRISHMAN - Thelma Schoonmaker
- JOJO RABBIT - Tom Eagles
- JOKER - Jeff Groth
- LE MANS ’66 - Andrew Buckland, Michael McCusker
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- THE IRISHMAN - Christopher Peterson, Sandy Powell
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- LITTLE WOMEN - Jacqueline Durran
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PRODUCTION DESIGN
- 1917 - Dennis Gassner, Lee Sandales
- THE IRISHMAN - Bob Shaw, Regina Graves
- JOJO RABBIT - Ra Vincent, Nora Sopková
- JOKER - Mark Friedberg, Kris Moran
- ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD - Barbara Ling, Nancy Haigh
SOUND
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- JOKER - Tod Maitland, Alan Robert Murray, Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic
- LE MANS ’66 - David Giammarco, Paul Massey, Steven A. Morrow, Donald Sylvester
- ROCKETMAN - Matthew Collinge, John Hayes, Mike Prestwood Smith, Danny Sheehan
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- 1917 - Thomas Newman
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- LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL) - Carol Dysinger, Elena Andreicheva
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BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
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