Harlequins lock Sam Twomey admits he and his teammates will be gunning for revenge when they take on Saracens in their LV= Cup opener on Sunday.
The London rivals have already met once this season, in the second round of Aviva Premiership Rugby, and Sarries ran riot in a 39-0 win at the Stoop.
While the two squads announced for this weekend’s LV= Cup clash are much changed from the league encounter, the Quins’ desire for redemption is still burning bright.
And Twomey, who was part of the side that won this competition back in 2013, admits there will be no love lost between the two sides.
“Saracens are always a great side, whatever competition they are in and whatever team that they pick,” he said.
“They are our local rivals so we know it will be a heartfelt match, they beat us 39-0 at our place and we didn’t put our best performance out on the pitch.
“So this will be a chance to rectify that and try and do a job on them at their place to repay the favour.
“They have great strength in depth in their squad, particularly in the second row so we know that it will be a big test.”
“They are our local rivals so we know it will be a heartfelt match, they beat us 39-0 at our place and we didn’t put our best performance out on the pitch.” – Sam Twomey
Last season Sarries slipped up at the semi-final stage in the LV= Cup but have picked a strong side for this Sunday’s clash as their much-vaunted rotation policy sees international stars like Jim Hamilton and Juan Figallo starting.
And full-back Ben Ransom insists he and his teammates are itching to improve on last campaign’s showings and impress in the absence of their England stars.
“We came up against a fired-up Saints squad in the semi-finals last year and it was tough up there,” he added.
“This year, if you look at our form as Saracens Storm in the A League, we’re doing well in that so if we can take our form from that we’ll do well.
“We’ve got quite a lot of guys who have been playing for the Storm that will play in the LV= Cup so if we can transfer it over, we’ve got a good chance again this year.
“We’ve got Harlequins at the weekend so that will be a very tough test first up.
“I’m not sure who’s going to be playing for them but they’ve got my mates Kyle Sinckler and George Merrick, who I’ve played in all the age groups with – guys like that who are very strong so it will be a tough test.
“Being at home first up is going to give us a big advantage, especially guys not playing every week who will be more used to the Allianz Park surface and a home crowd always gives you a boost.”
