Brighton Blues want their dream trip to Twickenham to be just the start of big things.

The Sussex One champions taken their season-long unbeaten record to headquarters tomorrow as they face Cornish outfit Liskeard Looe in the final of the national EDF Energy Junior Vase.

Both sides have battled their way through seven rounds and Brighton have already won their league and the Sussex Shield.

However, player-coach Neil McGovern insists there is still a long way to go before his mainly home grown line-up reach the level at which they should be playing.

Brighton have been in decline since they were unbeaten champions of London Three South East in 2000.

Now, former Havant and Haywards Heath centre McGovern has got them heading in the right direction.

More than 1,000 supporters from Sussex will see the evidence for themselves as the action kicks off at 1pm tomorrow.

McGovern said: “This is a great statement of intent in terms of how serious this club is about its development.

“It’s by no means the icing on the cake. We don’t have lots of players talking about retiring, far from it.

“There is a real drive for players to play here.

“This has been a great season for us but it’s just the beginning for Brighton Rugby Club.

“It will be a fantastic occasion and it will be a great reward for the boys.

“In some ways it has been quite a difficult season because we’ve got lads who could go and play for Worthing or Haywards Heath but have been loyal.

“It’s a nice way to raise the awareness of us and people have got to start taking the club seriously.

“Look through the ages of the team. I think we have got four guys out of 22 who are 30-plus. There is a lot of potential.”

The Blues are doing it properly. They head to Twickenham today after a light training session and lunch at their Waterhall base. They will be rushing back to Brighton after the game, however, so the whole club can end a momentous day together.

Their following at Twickenham is sure to include members of a youth set-up which will have its own big day next Saturday, when the under-nines and under-13s play in national finals ahead of the Guinness Premiership final.

But then Brighton have always had a lot of good young players. The key has been getting them back to the club to play first team rugby alongside some astute signings in key positions, notably half back.

McGovern has good experience of a smaller town club at Havant who consistently punch above their weight.

He knows Brighton have, in comparison, under-achieved.

The 25-year-old added: “If you are a player in that area, you go to Havant. You don’t go to Portsmouth.

“They have been relegated now but they are still a big name in club rugby. We don’t have that luxury at Brighton.

“What we do have is a big city, great facilities and a great youth section so there is a conveyor belt of talent.

“Brighton is a great place and when you see 500 people here at the national semi-final or 1,000 people going to Twickenham, there is an appetite in Sussex for a big club.

“Worthing, to be fair to them, have proved there is the talent within Sussex as well. I know they had a lot of overseas players who got them to the National League but they have also sustained it with talent in Sussex.

“Worthing is the sort of club we should be competing with. This season the aim was always to win promotion. There’s a three-year plan to get to level seven (the new London Two) and then we will re-think it again.”