Northampton Saints boast a medallist of their own in club skipper and former All Black Bruce Reihana. Reihana has two gold medals from the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Manchester in 2002. He is joined in the Saints team by Scotland winger Sean Lamont, an accomplished Sevens player in his own right who scored four tries in one match in the Guinness Premiership last season.

One player new to many Premiership fans will be NEC Harlequins' Dave Strettle. The former Rotherham winger was a prolific try scorer in National League One last season and that form saw him claim a place in the England Sevens squad. Strettle will be looking to start the season with a successful Middlesex Sevens before embarking on his first Guinness Premiership season with Quins.

The forecast on Saturday is for a clear, sunny day with temperatures rising as high as 21° Celsius (69° Fahrenheit); perfect weather to watch top class sevens rugby and also to enjoy the fairground in the West Car Park, with the usual favourites like dodgems and the waltzers.

Tickets are available until midday tomorrow (Friday) on www.ticketmaster.co.uk or 0871 871 4777 and after that time from the RFU ticket office, which opens at 10am on Saturday morning.