Declan Danaher will lead from the front when London Irish start their Aviva Premiership campaign against Saracens on September 1 © Getty Images

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Newly-appointed London Irish captain Declan Danaher says he is ready to lead from the front when the new season kicks off.

The flanker has been with the club for 13 years since he came through the youth system and along with his whole-hearted displays it has meant that he has become a cult hero for Exiles' fans. In his time at Irish he has made 242 appearances and scored 21 tries, but despite the amount of time he has played for the club he remains as passionate as ever about wearing the Exiles' jersey.

"I love playing for London Irish. It means the world to me. It's a hell of a club," Danaher told The Irish Post. "I'm not scared to get stuck in. If I can instill that in younger players I'll be doing my job. We're going to be competitive no matter what game or competition we're playing in. We're going to go hell for leather. If we get beaten, it won't be for lack of effort."

Irish have bolstered their ranks over the summer by bringing in Tomas O'Leary, Shane Geraghty and Iain Humpherys. The aim is that they will link up with the likes of Jonathan Joseph, Alex Corbisiero, Tom Homer and David Paice and allow Irish to challenge their London rivals Harlequins and Saracens, who have won the two most recent Premiership titles.

Their first match of the season is at Twickenham when they play Saracens as part of the London double header on Saturday, September 1 in front of ESPN's cameras and the match gives London Irish the chance to lay down an immediate marker of their intentions for the season.

"Seeing the likes of Quins and Sarries doing well drives me on more," Danaher said. "I haven't got long left so that drives me on to fulfil the possibilities. This is a massive club and we want to win. We want to play expansive rugby."