Conor O’Shea, the Director of Rugby of Harlequins FC, the champions of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Union league, the top league in English professional rugby, has delivered a warning towards the team’s rivals in the league, stating that The Quins are yet to fulfill their true potential, falling way short of it during their title winning season in 2011/12.

The champions are currently without their string of international stars and their absence became extremely evident as they suffered a 31-15 defeat at the hands of Castres in a pre-season friendly a few days back, as they look to get up and running to defend the title that they staked claim to back in May.

The Quins begin their defense of the title on the 1st of September as they take on local rivals the London Wasps in a London double header at Twickenham Stoop and Harlequins FC is looking to make the best possible start by going one up against their arch local rivals. And although the defeat to Castres was not the sort of start that O’Shea was looking for at the beginning of the season, he has insisted that the team is determined to excel the performances of the side that thumped the Leicester Tigers in the playoff final for the Premiership title.

Speaking about the performances of his side, O’Shea made it clear that the squad is nowhere near where they are capable of. He added that the team wants to be the best in everything it does and that includes petty stats as well – admitting that the side has plenty of room where it needs to improve upon. He added that Harlequins FC will rotate the squad and use all the players so that all of them are fit when the business end of the season begins.