RUGBY: Southend Saxons co-captain Ben Lloyd is determined to make the most of his first ever Twickenham appearance.
Southend take on Northampton Old Scouts at the world famous home of English rugby on Saturday.
But Lloyd is determined to make sure the afternoon is as enjoyable as possible.
“I’ve never played at Twickenham before so to get the chance this weekend is a massive thing,” said Lloyd.
“It’s been a big motivator for the whole group throughout this tournament too.
“It’s something you might never get the chance to do in your whole playing career, and it will always be one of the highlights when you come to retire.
“But you don’t want that memory to be of losing so we’ll be putting it all out there this week in training and on Saturday to make sure we come out on the right side of the result.”
Southend have certainly made winning a habit this season and won Regional Two Anglia after triumphing in 21 of their 22 matches.
A further three wins followed in the Papa Johns National Trophy to set up this weekend’s final.
And Lloyd is proud to have played a part in the Saxons bouncing back from some tough times.
“For this club to have gone through what it did, and to rise to where it is now, is a very special achievement,” said Lloyd.
“Credit for that has to go to a lot of people who were here before I arrived and held things together at its worst.
“To be able to be a part of rebuilding things has been one of the highlights of my career.
“Winning the league in the style we did and now to be taking the club to Twickenham in the hunt for a league and cup double is an incredible opportunity and one we want to take with both hands.”
Southend saw off Royal Wootton Bassett 33-22 last weekend to work their way through to Twickenham.
And Lloyd admitted it was far from a straight-forward success.
“The reward on offer for both teams was huge so the energy and physicality was through the roof,” said Lloyd.
“There were definitely a few sore bodies afterwards.
“RWB came with some big threats, but our boys were superb and to dig in the way we did in the last quarter was incredible.”
But Lloyd is now expecting more of the same this weekend.
“I’m sure that all the emotions involved will be exactly the same for Northampton OS, so they will throw everything at us and physically it will be another big test,” said Lloyd.
“As with every game this season, we’ll go into it knowing that if we perform to our best we’ll come out on the right side of the result.
“Everything this week will be geared towards that and making sure our performance is where it needs to be come Saturday.”
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