Harlequins captain Chris Robshaw and Director of Rugby Conor O'Shea talk to Nick Heath from Rugby Media at the launch of the new Heineken Cup season.

Harlequins boss Conor O'Shea talks to Russell Hargreaves of Talking Rugby at the Aviva Premiership launch.

By Rowan Birch

On Saturday 26th May, Harlequins defied the odds in their first ever Premiership final to beat firm favourites Leicester, in what was their eighth successive final.

So how did David beat Goliath? Firstly, Quins were the outright underdogs from the off. They had no experience of Premiership finals and the general consensus was a heavy victory for the Tigers.

But the underdog tag wasn't all bad. It put significant pressure on Leicester and allowed Quins to play how they wanted. It also allowed the Quins to play exciting, quick rugby - just the way they like it, as the London based club had nothing to lose.

Harlequins celebrate (Getty)

Harlequins made the short trip down the road to Twickenham and Leicester travelled from the East-Midlands to English rugby’s centre stage for the 2011/12 Aviva Premiership final.

The game changed hands a number of times with Leicester heading into the encounter as favourites. However, it wasn’t long before Harlequins asserted themselves in the match as firm contenders when Tom Williams scored the game’s opening try.

But the Tigers dug their claws back into the game when they led towards the end of the half after a superb try from Steve Mafi.

Credit: Nick Heath/Rugby Media

Twickenham will stage another final on Saturday afternoon as Harlequins and Leicester will come to blows in the Premiership final.

Twickenham hosted the Heineken Cup final last weekend but now the Aviva Premiership's big boys will battle it out on English rugby's centre stage.

Last year's winners Saracens failed to reach the grand finale in their semi-final defeat to Leicester Tigers, who will be appearing in their eighth successive Premiership final.

Harlequins clashed with Northampton in their semi-final and narrowly won thanks to a late try from Joe Marler. Quins have topped the table for the majority of the season and have looked strong throughout.

Following Harlequins' high tension semi-final victory over Northampton at the Stoop on Saturday, Conor O'Shea and Nick Evans spoke to Nick Heath.

Harlequins welcomed Northampton to the Stoop for the first of the Premiership semi-finals.

It looked as though the result would be based purely on penalties after the first forty minutes but Northampton ended the try drought midway through the second half and Harlequins responded with the match-winning score minutes from the final whistle.

The tension was clear in the opening exchanges as both teams started with scrappy handling. Harlequins seemed to have too many forwards in their back line which slowed their attacking play down significantly.

At last night's Aviva Premiership Awards ceremony, Chris Robshaw was crowned Aviva Premiership Rugby Player of the Season.

The England captain had tough competition from the likes of Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Julian Salvi (Leicester), Nick Wood (Gloucester) and James Scaysbrook (Exeter) for the award but came home the winner on the night.

Simon Ward from Talking Rugby spoke to Chris Robshaw at the ceremony:

As the Aviva Premiership draws nearer to a thrilling conclusion, we've predicted the results for this weekend's matches. Newcastle hosted Saracens last night and came away with one point, making the battle for Premiership survival even closer.

The Falcons will be hoping that Bath can do them a favour by beating Wasps this afternoon which will ensure Newcastle still have a chance of staying in the Premiership next season.

London rivals, Harlequins and London Irish, will come to blows at the Twickenham Stoop this weekend. At the game, Aviva will be scientifically finding out which of the two sets of opposing fans is the most passionate, testing their noise levels, heart rate and more.

And ahead of the match, they invited Exiles stars Tommy Homer, Topsy Ojo and Dan Bowden, as well as Quins' Nick Easter and Luke Wallace - and passionate supporters of both sides - to a pub quiz at the famous Sun Inn in Richmond. Russell Hargreaves spoke to both sets of players and to rival fans themselves...

After Saracens' victory over the previously unbeaten Harlequins, Talking Rugby's Russell Hargreaves caught up with Alex Goode and Andy Saull of Saracens, Harlequins centre Matt Hopper, Conor O'Shea and Mark McCall.

The game was a sell-out and saw just two tries, one from Saracens' David Strettle and one from Harlequins' Joe Marler, but provided a great day out for the Twickenham crowd who were entertained my X Factor contestants in the build-up to kick-off and at half time.

In front of a sell-out Twickenham crowd, it was a top-of-the-table London derby at the home of English rugby as reigning Aviva Premiership champions, Saracens, took down the previously unbeaten, Harlequins.

At the age of 26, Matt Hopper has played just five times for Harlequins. But despite few appearances, the former Cornish Pirate has made an impact already with his incredible skill and speed showcased at the highest level for Quins.

He joined the Londoners in the summer from Championship club Cornish Pirates and had previously represented Plymouth. Hopper spent a year perfecting his rugby in Australia playing in the Sydney Premiership with Manley.

In a recent interview with Nick Heath, Harlequins' and England Saxons full-back Mike Brown spoke about player awards, England, Toulouse and of course, Christmas. At the age of just 26, Brown has been playing at the Twickenham Stoop with Harlequins since 2006. In that time he has made over 100 appearances for his club and has gained 3 England caps.

During his Quins career, Mike Brown has scored a total of 189 points, consisting of 37 tries. In the interview he discusses the growing amount of talented English full-backs and understands it will be hard to get into the England squad with the likes of the more experienced Delon Armitage and Ben Foden. Click 'more' to watch the interview.

After Danny Care was arrested following Harlequins' Round 3 loss to Toulouse, he was fined by the club and was punished by Stuart Lancaster on the phone. In an interview with Nick Heath, O'Shea assured that Care "won't make that mistake again." Click play on the video below to see what Conor O'Shea had to say:



Credit: Rugby Media/Nick Heath

This edition of Scrum Five's rugby news round-up includes some stories about the RFU, including the appointment of a new CEO and the retirement of an English Rugby legend. We also have another story about Danny Care included in this edition...