NO MORE clichés, no more “Champagne Charlie” tags, Dean Richards is building a solid team in his inimitable formula of shambling gait and sharp brain.

The last Guinness Premiership club left in London proper drank from the working man’s well in the dying days of 2008, going down to the dregs of their pint glass to taste success, and are now fighting their way into a new year that sees them splendidly positioned to qualify for the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup and the Premiership playoffs, which they missed by a Tiger’s whisker last season. The bitter final-day defeat at Leicester has been forgotten as that sweet smell of success floods the Stoop.

The last-second Nick Evans drop goal to beat Stade Français and the conversion in the dying moments of the match by that same iceman to salvage a draw with Leicester in front of 50,000 supporters at Twickenham was a testament to Harlequins’ depth of determination. But inspired by Richards, that should be no surprise. The iron will in alliance with the canniest of rugby brains formed the foundations of his heroic career. And here comes that Richards spirit once more, alive again; first as a player, before the most successful coaching spell of modern times during a glorious four years of dominance at Leicester; and now it has a second rebirth, this time with Harlequins.

Today is more than just another important match, another chance to bank crucial points in this season of fine-line fixtures; this match might be a tipping point for Harlequins and their old rivals, the dominant team of this century, London Wasps. This game at the home of the champions of England (although it is easy to forget that fact on Wasps’ form to date) has symbolic significance.

Before conquering England, Harlequins must first conquer their old London rivals. Since the professionalisation of the sport, Harlequins have managed to look down upon Wasps at the end of the season only once; and that was the 1998-99 season. A decade on and Harlequins will put themselves in prime position to emulate that achievement and so much more.

After Harlequins’ brief bragging rights of 1999, they were to stagnate and be relegated before what appears to be a complete transformation of the club on and off the field. The playing affairs are aided by the steady long-term vision of chief executive Mark Evans, whose decision to risk relegation to mould the club into a successful entity off the field seems, if not exactly inspired, then far more justified than it did when Harlequins were relegated.

Harlequins’ fall coincided with Wasps being crowned champions for a third consecutive year and the battle between London’s old clubs seemed settled for good. Since then, Wasps have won both Guinness and Heineken titles to Harlequins’ mere Middlesex Sevens, but this season has seen a dramatic tilt towards the latter.

Whereas the Stoop has been superbly redeveloped, today’s venue, Adams Park, remains one of the sport’s least atmospheric grounds. Considering the mighty achievements of the team throughout their time in High Wycombe, this is some statement and a long-term concern for those associated with Wasps.

Even as Wasps were claiming another Premiership title last May, Harlequins were moving ahead of them in all aspects off the field. Today, on the first match weekend of the new year, Harlequins arrive in Wycombe poised to grasp dominance where it most matters.

Wasps will be fired up for a game that head coach Shaun Edwards has clearly targeted. A weakened Wasps travelled to Sale on Boxing Day and were savaged. Two points to note: in recent years noWasps team capitulated as this one did and, second, Edwards and Ian McGeechan never gave up on games before the match had kicked off. The body language in defeat was awful.

Admittedly, Wasps had won four straight games before the Sale match but, when one analyses the opposition rather than taking the statistical facts as evidence of some kind of reforging of the champions’ fires, the picture painted is bleak.

Newcastle away is not an earth-shuddering effort. Neither were home and away wins against the very epitome of Magners League mediocrity, Edinburgh, proof of recovery. A late rally and home win against Saracens, the most consistently inconsistent of the better teams in England, rounded off this little sequence. As a body of evidence it does not compel. It makes the 31-3 loss to Sale utterly predictable.

Harlequins themselves are short of recent league points but, while Wasps were winning in Newcastle, Harlequins were beating league leaders Bath. Stade Français’ scalp, both home and away, is an illustrious effort in anybody’s books, but one week later at Northampton, Nick Evans wavered and Harlequins lost and last Saturday, another epic comeback was required to gain a draw against a far from convincing Leicester. Maybe the 50,000 crowds and the headlines are premature. Maybe, but the defeat at Northampton is no shame; no side have beaten them in the east midlands this season, while coming back from a 10-point deficit with six minutes left against those gnarled old scrappers from Leicester should never be slighted.

Harlequins are producing the better rugby. Edwards has his team perspiring, but inspiration is as short on the pitch as it is for the visitor on the drive through the industrial estate to Adams Park.

Wasps are wounded and apparently waiting for Harlequins to put them out of their unseasonable misery. If this challenge is not the cue for Wasps’ deep winter regeneration, surely nothing is. The Wasps of last season would not lose such a game, but that was then and this is now.