Scrum of the Earth /

On the same day Rob Andrew took a pop at the state of the national game, only a stones-throw away from his office at HQ, across the A316, and Harlequins were providing fierce arguments against the motion.

Seemingly intent on becoming London's premier outfit (if geographically they are London's only side), Dean Richards' boys made a giant step to realising their goal by shifting their Christmas cracker against heavyweights Leicester Tigers to Twickenham on December 27.

Chief executive Mark Evans remembers days when club games attracted no more than 3,000, but the club's ambitions indicate how far the game has moved on since amateurism and days of loose fitting jerseys.

Quins chose against taking a lion’s share of the pot on offer for the Guinness Premiership's curtain raising London Double Header, and seem well placed to take a greater portion of the spoils in the capital, if the club's off-field aspirations continue to match the club’s mounting hopes on the pitch.