Harlequins vs Gloucester: Stakes are high on grandest stage for Big Summer Kick Off

"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.”