When the RFU was formed in 1871, Harlequins were amongst the founder members. Legend has it that the Wasps' representative went to the wrong bar on the wrong date (or maybe didn't fancy the pizza on offer at the right one), thereby missing out on the prestige of founding membership, but who sent him there? Is it fanciful to suggest that some Moriarty-like Harlequin, still smarting from the Hampstead split a few years earlier (and no doubt rueing the fact he'd ended up on the wrong side), sent the unwary Wasp on a wild-goose chase through the dank Dickensian streets, trusting that he'd plump for the first pub he came to and settle in for the duration?

In any case, a rivalry had been born, and it continues to the modern day. When the Courage Leagues were first instituted in the late nineteen-eighties, Wasps and Quins were the only two London representatives in the top division. Harlequins never won the league but were often there or thereabouts, and enjoyed success in the knock-out competition too. They won the RFU Cup in 1988 and 1991, and appeared in the final in 1992 and 1993. Meetings between the two clubs in the early nineteen-nineties ranged players from that era's successful England teams against each other: the likes of Brian Moore, Paul Ackford, Peter Winterbottom and Will Carling for Harlequins, Paul Rendall, Jeff Probyn and Rob Andrew for Wasps. They were, without doubt, the big fish in the London rugby pond.

Nowadays, of course, London Irish and Saracens have muscled their way into the cosy south-eastern club and, much to the chagrin of traditionalists, failed to do the decent thing and disappear again. Maybe the staying-power of these clubs, together with the emergence of other rivalries, has diminished the needle that used to exist between Wasps and Quins. Added to this, the image of Quins as an exclusive club for Hooray Henrys, dabbling in rugby in between making a killing on the stock-market and propping up the wine-growers of Champagne, doesn't ring true any more. A trip to the Stoop is enough to confirm this – you're as likely to be sitting next to a Bob Smith as a Charles Ffoulkes-Smythe, and no Quin of the old school would ever have done anything as vulgar as joining in a chant. The Stoop has become a venue that you look forward to visiting – good facilities, decent banter and, dare I say it, an entertaining team to watch.

But Sunday's match is at the rather larger stadium over the road – the second of Quins' 'Big Games' as they're called, and it is intriguing to wonder where the crowd is coming from. They can't all be fans of the two clubs – if they were, then you'd have to say that a massive trick is being missed by both. More likely, after the excesses of the festive season, people are looking for an opportunity to get out of the house and do something, and reasonably priced tickets to a rugby match within fairly easy reach of public transport is just the sort of thing they're attracted to. Seventy thousand plus people. It's food for thought.

After a wobbly start to the season (beginning with defeat by Wasps and the sending off of George Robson at the double-header), Harlequins have begun to find some form again in recent weeks. They have lost just one of their last six Premiership matches, to high-flying Northampton, and notched up victories against Gloucester, Worcester and Bath, as well as a hard-fought draw against London Irish. In Ugo Monye and David Strettle they have two of the quickest wing men in the country; experienced, effective half-backs in the form of England scrum-half Danny Care and New Zealand fly-half Nick Evans; and in Mike Brown they have one of the more reliable full-backs in English rugby. Discarded by England, Brown is solid under the high ball, able to counter-attack or kick with equal facility, and extremely competitive in everything he does. A full-back in the traditional mould who reminds me of Matt Perry – call me old-fashioned, but I'd rather have a Mike Brown than the flaky, occasionally brilliant but occasionally downright awful Abendanon type of player.

Up front, Quins have a competitive pack anchored by England number eight Nick Easter. He is joined in the back-row by Will Skinner and last season's Guinness Premiership player of the year Chris Robshaw, with the promising Tom Guest waiting in the wings. The front five isn't bursting with star names, but anybody who watched Quins' home match against Sale in the Heineken Cup the other week knows that they don't lose anything for that. Indeed, both matches against Sale displayed the quick, effective attacking game that Quins became known for last season. There's no reason to think that they're going to clam up in the open spaces of the Twickenham pitch on Sunday.

For Wasps, the most effective part of their game in recent weeks has been defence. Waldouck, Kefu and Jacobs have been a brick wall in midfield, and the aggression of the pack at the breakdown and in open play has been a notch up from the early part of the season. Attacking-wise, the story hasn't been quite so successful. Despite Tom Varndell's two tries against Bayonne at Adams Park, there's a feeling that Wasps haven't been making the most of the opportunities they've been creating. This was especially evident in last weekend's away game to Bayonne. It was a good win, built on defence, but could (and perhaps should) have been a more clear-cut victory. Of course, conditions don't always help – a slippery ball and Siberian cold aren't conducive to slick handling - but even so, clean breaks are too often ending in spilled ball or a rushed attempt to make the decisive, scoring play, and tries seem to be going begging because of it.

At Twickenham, victory is dependent on matching Quins' attacking intent and combining it with the highly effective defensive organisation that has characterised recent Wasps performances. There will be no lack of space, no reason why whatever combination of Varndell, Lemi and Sackey take the wings can't operate, and no excuse for getting bogged down in a tedious kicking contest. Both sides have the ability to attack ball-in-hand. Let's hope, for the sake of the seventy-thousand plus spectators, that the rugby is worthy of the occasion.

Prediction: with accuracy and calm heads in attack, Wasps to sneak it.

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