The Scarlets’ coach has backed his players to respond to recent derby defeats when they resume their European Champions Cup campaign at home to Pau on Saturday night, despite the wider uncertainty over the region’s future.
Peel views this weekend as an opportunity to reset after losses to the Ospreys and Dragons that have left his side bottom of the United Rugby Championship table.
Those defeats have come during a time when the Scarlets and the other regions are still in the dark over whether they will exist beyond next season.
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But Peel has stressed his immediate focus is on performance and reaction.
“We’ve come off the back of losses before and reacted, and that’s the thing now,” said the former Wales scrum-half.
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“How we react now will define us, not the last two games.”
Peel admitted the festive derbies were a mixed bag. While he took encouragement from the character shown in the win over Cardiff, he was open about his disappointment at what followed.
“Coming off the back of Europe, there was a good feeling,” he said.
“The Cardiff game was a good fight from us, we showed a lot of character and spirit. But obviously we were disappointed with the two results against the Ospreys and the Dragons. There are areas we need to improve, and we’ve been honest enough to admit that.”
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Peel pointed to a lack of clinical edge in key moments and lapses in discipline as decisive factors, rather than any lack of effort or belief.
“Clinical execution becomes a habit. You let one or two slip and then you’re a bit twitchy, a bit less willing to go there. That’s something we’ve talked about at length and worked on over the last couple of days.”
Discipline has also hurt the Scarlets, with five yellow cards and a red card across recent matches, and Peel accepted that the likely suspension of senior forward Max Douglas is another setback.
“He’s one of our more senior players and when we play well he’s at the forefront,” Peel said.
“But we’ve put ourselves under pressure. That’s an area we need to be better at, because giving teams cheap entries, especially over the last two weeks, has hurt us.”
Despite the poor run, Peel was adamant that the squad have not lost faith in the bigger picture, even as speculation continues about the WRU’s plans and the long-term shape of professional rugby in Wales.
“The longer it goes on, the tougher it is for everyone,” he said of the ongoing governance discussions.
“It affects contracting and planning for next season. The time thing is big for me — the sooner it gets done, the better. But my job is to focus on our business here.”
That business now turns to Europe, and Peel is relishing the challenge of welcoming Pau, who sit second in France’s Top 14, to Parc y Scarlets.
“You don’t get second in the Top 14 unless you’ve got a deep squad and players who can perform,” he said.
“Whoever comes here, they’ll be up for the fight. We’ll prepare to play against the best Pau we can, and prepare ourselves as best we can.”
Peel believes the Champions Cup offers a timely reminder of what the Scarlets are building towards, particularly for a squad in transition that has leaned heavily on young players this season.
They lost their opening two games in the tournament, but lay fourth in Pool 4 thanks to a bonus point.
“We fought really hard to get into the Champions Cup and we deserve to be in there,” he said.
“We had a fantastic experience in Bordeaux — some of the younger boys playing in front of 30,000 people against top-quality players. That’s the standard of the competition, and we feel at home in that.
“Are we happy with where we are? No. But we’re not halfway through the season yet. There’s a lot of rugby to be played.
“We’re in this together, and the work we put in now — as players, coaches and staff — will turn into performances. And with performances, the results will come.”
