Halrequins’ senior coach Tabai Matson said his team weren’t clinical enough when on top during their defeat to Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership at the weekend.

Quins still haven’t won a London derby away against Sarries in the last decade, their last triumph coming in 2012 at Wembley, and that barren run was extended after a 19-10 defeat in atrocious conditions at the StoneX Stadium.

The two teams went in deadlocked at 10-10 at half time, before Alex Lozowski’s three penalties and some impressive game-management from Saracens sealed the win.

Matson was pleased with the spirit and fight shown from his team in difficult circumstances, but feels the scoreboard should have been closer at the final whistle.

“We knew only our best would be good enough,” he said. “And evidently we weren't at that level although we showed a lot of grit.

“We had a bonus point in the bag when we had the ball in the last minute and it's disappointing to lose that.

“Saracens made some uncharacteristic errors in the second half to keep us in it, but we didn't take the opportunities when they were there in the first half.

“The six penalties at the scrum will be a focal point.

“We came here looking for a low penalty-count, but if your set-piece gets tucked up, you are always going to be on the wrong end of the scoreboard and there's no easy fix.”

The result means last season’s defending champions are now ten points adrift of their capital city rivals, although they still sit just inside the top four a point clear of Wasps.

Despite a tough loss, one bright spot for Quins was Stephan Lewies making his return to the team from the bench following an extended spell on the sidelines.

But he agreed with Matson that failing to capitalise on their advantage in the opening 40 was a major factor to the outcome.

Lewies said: “It was tough to take, they’re obviously our biggest rivals and I felt the boys had an incredible training week in the build-up.

“But ultimately it comes down to the matchday. They played the conditions better than us and were a lot more clinical.

“On set-pieces I don’t think we were good enough, we weren’t nearly as good as them and that is where it all begins and ends really. So we have to really work on that.

“I think we had courage and effort. But our accuracy let us down. I felt it was a ten-point wind. That wind was strongly behind us in the first half, so we’d have liked to be further up on the board.

“We probably needed to be a few points up with that wind at half-time. But that is how it goes and at times we responded well in the second half.

“My lungs are blowing and my legs are tired (after his first game back) but it was a good step in the right direction.”