Months ago, Harlequins bosses decided to move their final home game of the season across to Twickenham for a big summer celebration of the Champions, who have sold out every match at the Stoop this year for the first time ever.
When they did so, they could not have dreamt there would be so much riding on their clash with Gloucester when they walk out at HQ tomorrow.
Quins are third, having not quite wrapped up their play-off spot, with Gloucester in fifth. Next week Quins travel to Exeter, also chasing fourth in a thrilling race. Fail to win either match, and they likely miss out on the top four.
Already approaching 50,000 tickets have been sold for tomorrow’s “Big Summer Kick Off” at Twickenham, which aims to be a festival of rugby. Quins have a waiting list of more than 1,000 for season tickets, and selling out every home game has but a desire to spread the word at bigger events.
Craig David is performing, there is a community sevens tournament running throughout the day, and the Quins’ club legends who won the Premiership a decade ago in 2012 will be paraded before the crowd. As at their festive Big Game event, Quins players will prepare at the Stoop before making the short walk across to HQ.
"There is huge competitive edge to this game,” Quins CEO Laurie Dalrymple tells Standard Sport. “Summer rugby suits us, but Gloucester come with a similar identity, they have been fantastic all year.
“The Stoop is our home and we love it but the opportunity to engage with more people, bring them into rugby and the national stadium is amazing.
“It’s our responsibility to get more people watching rugby. Rugby’s viewing audience is well connected to international scene. They love watching Marcus Smith play for England. Our challenge is to spread the word so that more people come to watch the Premiership because as it’s proved this year, the product is fantastic.”
Quins have been innovators on the field for the last 18 months, with their free-flowing style, with Smith and Alex Dombrandt at its heart, winning games and turning heads. But they have been innovators off the field too, allowing injured Bath prop Beno Obano to make an Amazon Prime documentary about their preseason, and now adding another big date to rugby’s calendar, which Dalrymple hopes will become an annual event.
“If we continue to do what we always have, the same old way year after year, my worry is that we are not going to find ways to bring fans to our sport,” he says. “We see this as gathering strong foundations that are akin to what we have achieved with Big Game over the last decade and a half.
“I would like to see it as something we establish within the calendar. Never in club’s history have we sold out every premier league game. We have done that this season.
“Currently have a waiting list of c1000 individual season tickets for next year. So we find ourselves in a really positive situation, but as we come out of a tricky couple of years financially we need to make the most of that.
“It’s an opportunity for Londoners who wouldn’t normally be able to come to Twickenham, whether that’s due to price point or scarcity of tickets, to get into a great stadium. It’s our responsibility to give them an awesome experience, starting with top-class rugby, but much more besides.”
