Saracens will discover if they have the “minerals” to succeed this season by the way in which they react to the disappointment of losing the Abu Dhabi derby to Harlequins in the Sport360° UAE Premiership, according to backs coach Steve Hamilton.
Sarries suffered a frustrating 26-9 defeat to their city rivals at Zayed Sports City on Friday night.
Hamilton, who played at fly-half, has only been in the UAE a matter of weeks but already knows the importance of the capital rivalry. The 26-year-old urged the Al Ghazal-outfit to channel their frustrations and use it to propel them to better things in the months ahead.
He said: “It’s onwards and upwards: It’s not doom and gloom, it’s not over. There’s a long way to go. This is the true test. Can the squad come out of it? It’s easy to come together last week after a victory, but can the squad do it off a loss? That’s where we’ll test our minerals.
“The message to the lads was feel it. Appreciate what the defeat feels like. That’s two losses on the road now, which isn’t nice, but we have to use them to our advantage.
“We have to bottle up that annoyance, try and channel it, target another positive week of training, and come out the end of it a better team.”
The former Rotherham and London Wasps academy player was clearly disappointed with the loss, which brought Sarries back down to earth after the excellent 19-15 win over Dubai Hurricanes the previous week.
“It meant a lot,” admitted Hamilton. “Sarries have never beaten Quins. I’ve only been here a short time but it’s a local derby and I already feel like I’ve been here my whole life. It matters so much and it’s massively gutting.”
Hamilton took comfort in the fact the loss still represents progress for Sarries.
“It’s a step forward from where we’ve been but I don’t think there’s a player on the pitch who’ll accept that as justification,” he said.