Abu Dhabi Saracens captain Dougie Steele has revealed there is a “good feeling” at the club as they bid to cause a derby day upset against Harlequins on Friday.
Saracens claimed their first ever Gulf Top Six points with a dramatic 36-36 draw with Doha in Qatar last weekend.
“It has given us a big lift and the guys are excited for the weekend,” Steele said. “It’s obviously going to be a massive challenge against Quins, who have got a winning record against us.
“But in the way the club’s going at the moment we’re always improving and there’s a good feeling at the moment.”
Steele only took over the captaincy after Vatulele Tusitala was forced to retire through injury at the end of last year and Saracens’ ‘new era’ in 2014 has also included the appointment of new coach Steve Evans.
“We got a new coach fairly recently and his structure and coaching is starting to pay off now and we’re starting to get used to a new way of playing,” Steele added.
“The one thing we’re doing a lot better now is that the training we’re doing during the week is based on our performance at the weekend, so we’re working on our weak areas rather than doing a session that was pre-set and has no relevance.
“We’re also identifying with the teams that we’re playing and having played them previously in the season we have an idea of where they’re strong and weak.”
The Saracens captain has admitted receiving some gentle ribbing from opposite number, Billy Graham, and Quins player-coach, Jeremy Manning, in the build up to the game.
Saracens – only founded in 2011 – have never beaten their more illustrious neighbours, but in Ali Thompson and Clendon Penny they have two former Quins hoping to change that this weekend.
Elsewhere, Doha will don pink shirts for their clash with Jebel Ali Dragons in support of cancer charities and Bahrain face a Dubai Hurricanes side looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats.
