By Ryan Walters

Harlequins director of rugby Conor O’Shea insisted a desire to win back the Aviva Premiership title is not the only reason the Quins back rowers should be upping their game – citing the emergence of Jack Clifford as a reason to be watchful.

The 20-year-old captained the England U20 side to the Junior World Championship title in France last month – earning him a nomination for 2013 IRB Junior Player of the Year award.

Number eight Clifford matched a particularly inspirational performance against New Zealand in the semi-final with a demanding display in the final against Wales to inspire a second-half comeback and 23-15 victory.

And with Clifford the latest in a queue of players quickly forming behind the likes of Chris Robshaw and Nick Easter for a start, O’Shea believes the extra competition will prove fruitful for both club and player.

“I’m sure Nick Easter, Tom Guest, Chris Robshaw, Luke Wallace and Maurie Fa’asavalu will be looking over their shoulders,” said O’Shea.

“But then there is also Joe Trayfoot and young James Chisholm, an academy player as well.

“His brother Ross Chisholm has also just joined, but he is young and has been with the England U18s in South Africa this summer so we’ve got a lot of talent in our back row."

He added: “Jack [Clifford] is an exceptional talent but if he can fight his way in, and he’ll have to fight to get past some of the people there, that is what good clubs want and have.

“Things will look after themselves for him as he fights his way through that little group of players and as that scrap takes place for those places.

“We will be pushing each other to make each other better and that will drive the people like Chris, Luke, Nick and Tom to higher their levels as well and that’s really exciting.”

Before Quins get a chance to begin mounting a challenge to win back the Premiership, having lifted the title in 2012, they can first lay down a marker in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s series.

And O’Shea has urged any others wanting to catch his attention to make the most of the opportunity in this format of the game when they are handed it.

“The J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s is lovely and really helpful. It’s a great chance for players to put down a marker, you can kind of say we want to be part of the first team and make the coaches stand up and take note,” he added.

“We really value the whole thing in terms of our pre-season and it’s properly positioned now for the guys to come back into rugby.

“It was on a little bit early in the past within our pre-season plans, but now it’s in a really good part of pre-season and I am looking forward to it.

“We don’t have a big squad so no matter what we will have a pretty strong squad coming into it.”

The J.P Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s kicks off on 1st August at Kingsholm with rounds at Franklin’s Gardens and Allianz Park and the Final at The Recreation Ground. For tickets and more information visit: www.jpmorgan7s.com or follow @jpmorganrugby7s