“I’ve got to oust Nick Easter to achieve my dream,” says Tom Guest

Harlequins No.8 Tom Guest admits his international aspirations will remain on hold unless he can elbow aside Nick Easter and nail down a starting spot.
Guest made his 150th appearance for Quins against Wasps last weekend – a game-changing intervention from the bench which preceded the most remarkable Premiership comeback of all time as the champions overturned a 27-point deficit to win 42-40.
Only five current Harlequins – Tom Williams, Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown, Ugo Monye and Easter – have more first XV games to their name than Guest, but no fewer than 67 (45 per cent) of his appearances have been as a back row replacement.
The Taplow-born 28-year-old therefore knows this is a make-or-break season if he is to take the next step and become part of Stuart Lancaster’s England plans.
Guest, who represented the Saxons in 2008 and 2009, told The Rugby Paper: “Of course it’s frustrating. No player, whether a professional or not, wants to be on the bench.
“You want to be starting and finishing games, that’s everyone’s target. That’s how you get noticed and while being involved is great, starting’s the main thing for me.
“I’ve got ambitions further up (with England) and it’s important that I get my form going, get a starting position with Quins and then other things might come later.
“If Quins are doing well and I’m playing well, we’ll see what happens. But at the moment I just want a starting spot and that’s pretty tough with Nick Easter around.”
Guest’s opportunities became even more limited after Easter was deemed surplus to requirements by England following last year’s World Cup.
But, despite having had opportunities to move elsewhere, Guest is contracted until 2014 and has no desire to leave a club that is looking to create a dynasty.
“It’s been tough being behind Nick for so many years, but we all get on pretty well and there’s a massive squad emphasis at Quins,” Guest said.
“When contracts come up you re-assess what you want to do, but I’ve always seen a lot of positivity around the guys. That’s certainly been the case under Conor O’Shea and the amount of young guys we’ve got coming through is ridiculous.
“Luke Wallace made a fantastic impression last year and that competition really pushes you. It’s part of the enjoyment of rugby and it keeps you going.
“I’ve had injuries and it took a while to get my form back, but I finished last season strongly and had a good pre-season, so it’s about coming out flying now and showing the coaches what I can do. It’s about taking your chances and keeping the shirt.”
Despite last season’s success in lifting the Aviva Premiership title, Guest believes Quins are capable of much more, certainly on the European stage.
He explained: “We’re all pretty driven people and even last year we set standards above winning the Premiership. We didn’t do well enough in the Heineken Cup and the other competitions, so there are always goals to improve upon.
“This year we want to be a top team and create a dynasty at Quins. We can’t just win one year, you have to keep winning and putting yourself in positions year-in, year-out. We want to show how good a team we are.
“People were talking last year about the World Cup period favouring us, but the way we won the title in the end proved we were a good team and deserved to be there. That’s what we’ve got to prove again this year as well.”
Quins have been handed what looks like a favourable Heineken Cup draw after being pitted against Biarritz, Connacht and Italian newcomers Zebre.
Can the Londoners go all the way?
Guest added: “I think we showed by winning in Toulouse last year what we’re capable of.
“It was a result people weren’t expecting but we always had faith we could do that to teams. The great teams do that on a regular basis though, in the Premiership and Heineken Cup, and that’s what we’ve got to show we can do this year.
“The way last season’s Heineken Cup campaign ended at Connacht was very disappointing, but if we can learn from that I think we can do well.”
NEALE HARVEY