Quins bid for triple crown (From Wimbledon Guardian)

Skipper Robshaw wants Quins fighting on three fronts

3:33pm Friday 24th August 2012 in Rugby Union By Stuart Amos

Skipper Chris Robshaw has backed director of rugby Conor O’Shea to ensure Quins can handle success on three fronts this season.

The Premiership champions reached the end of last season with a virtually clean bill of health for the run-in, despite a host of international call-ups for his men last season – including the 2011 World Cup.

Quins will aim to reach the knock-out stages of this year’s Heineken Cup, as well as mount a credible defence of the top-flight crown they won in May – not to mention the LV= Cup campaign.

But having seen a young side put Championship outfit London Scottish to the sword last weekend, Robshaw insisted the club had the resources to go all out for silverware again this term.

And if they were to successfully defend their title, it would have as much to do with science as good fortune.

“It’s all about the squad evolving.

“This year we’ve got a slightly bigger squad with young guys hopefully stepping up and taking their opportunity,” he said.

“Ideally you want to compete on all three fronts with the LV Cup the Heineken Cup and the Premiership.

“You’ve got to make sure you are very competitive. It’s about making sure all your players are fresh at the business end of the season.

“Conor is very good at understanding that and with his history in sports science and at UK Sport it’s about looking after players.”

But O’Shea revealed he was not looking much beyond the Twickenham double header encounter with London Wasps next weekend.

“We’ll take it one game at a time and I think he probably said the same.

You can’t think too far ahead, so we’re looking at Wasps and delivering our best performance there,” he said.

“We’ve got a good squad with lots of guys who can step in and put pressure on the incumbents.

“Last year 42 players out of 48 that were available at academy and at senior  level played in the senior team  in the Aviva Premiership. And that was just the Aviva, so they’ll need to do that again.”

Robshaw was named Premiership player of the year last year after lifting the Premiership trophy and leading England in the Six Nations.

And a first England tour as captain in South Africa had only left him hungry to improve.

“I think you can never really stand still,” he said. “You need to look at your game in total and keep involved with every part of it and keep improving.

“You work on your endurance and strength.  If you stand still, the people around you catch you out.”