Alex Dombrandt and his team are on a mission to prove that Harlequins did not ‘fluke’ winning the Premiership last season.
The England star is hot favourite to wear the No.8 shirt in Australia this summer following news that rival Sam Simmonds is a major injury doubt.
But his focus is squarely on today’s clash with leaders Leicester, one of only two teams above Quins in the table.
A week after their painful exit from Europe, Dombrandt insists the Londoners are “galvanised as a group” by the challenge of winning back-to-back domestic titles.
“I think a lot of people thought we fluked winning the Premiership last year,” he said, recalling how Quins finished fourth in the table, overturned a 28-0 lead to win their semi-final at Bristol then bagged two late tries to beat Exeter at Twickenham.
“If I’m being honest I think a lot of people reckon we got lucky - that passes went to hand and the bounce of the ball went our way.
“They say defence wins you championships and I think many thought it was an anomaly that Quins won it the way we did - and wrote us off, didn’t give us a chance, this season.”
They have a chance alright, albeit they finish the regular season with four games against top-six opponents. They rank number one for tries scored and bonus points.
“People now hopefully think we are real contenders to do it again,” Dombrandt added. “But I still think there’s a quite few out there who don’t think we can.
“That definitely galvanises us as a group, and me personally, to prove those doubters wrong; to show that you can be successful playing the way we do.”
Dombrandt passes the armband back to fit-again Stephan Lewies with Quins warned to shake off last week’s Euro exit or risk being “humiliated”.
“Losing to Montpellier left a real hollow feeling - we definitely missed an opportunity,” said senior coach Tabai Matson.
“To be knocked out at this stage was a bit of a kick in the guts. But you can’t sulk for too long. If we don’t get this right Leicester will humiliate us.”
Tigers leave England props Ellis Genge and Dan Cole on the bench, give a Premiership debut to Kiwi No.8 Sean Jansen and a first league start to openside Olly Robinson.
“Leicester are on Cloud Nine, the way they are going,” said Dombrandt. “But there’s no better game for us after Montpellier than at home to the top of the table team in front of a sell-out crowd.”
Ealing have abandoned hope of reaching the Premiership - three weeks after winning the second-tier Championship for the first time.
Trailfinders do not have a 10,000-capacity ground and so fail to meet the ‘minimum standards’ criteria required to play in the top flight.
The Londoners yesterday withdrew their appeal, meaning no team will be promoted and the league will remain at 13 teams.
