It is a strong team that we have put out to face the Blues at Goldington Road with five players making their debuts for NEC Harlequins; Dafydd James, Jeremy Staunton, Steve So'oialo, Mamma Molitika and Maurice Fitz Gerald, four of them being full internationals.

In terms of preparation, we are still a long way from being the finished article and there is a lot of work to be done between now and 4th September. However, the Bedford game will at least give us a first look at a number of the new players in the squad as well as some of the youngsters such as Henry Barratt and Mike Brown, who played so well for the Second XV last season in the Zurich A League.

Last weekend saw us take part in the inaugural Compass Group International 7's tournament at the Stoop and we were delighted to reach the semi-finals, where we lost to the eventual winners Gloucester. The event was a huge success with, by all accounts, some very high class sevens being played; not being a lover of the shorter version of our game it is difficult for me to comment!

However, we did pick-up a couple of minor injuries to Jim Evans and Simon Keogh as well as a fractured hand for Joe Mbu and an ankle ligament strain for Chris Cracknell, who was playing for Young England. This may well affect our selection for the Middlesex Sevens this weekend at Twickenham; we will have to wait until later in the week to see how each of the players recovers from these knocks before selecting our squad.

Without wishing to tease anyone, we are now very close to announcing our next signing. As we have made everyone aware we are still looking for a scrum half and a second row signing, but as in many walks of life you have to bide your time to ensure that you make the right decision. Hopefully we are close to completing one of these deals, and we will make the announcement to confirm this just as soon as we are able to do so.

Next week we are off to Ulster to play both Belfast Harlequins and Ulster in what is an important part of our preparation. It is important to take the squad away to a new environment, as it gives the players new and old a chance to get to know each other away from the training ground and it provides a concentrated period of six days where it will be rugby, rugby, rugby, 24 hours a day.

Those of you travelling to Bedford I look forward to seeing you there, if not then it will be Twickenham for the Middlesex Sevens.