London Welsh captain Tom May is more than happy to put his holidays on hold in a bid to return to the top flight.

The exiles take on Leeds Carnegie at Headingley in the first leg of their Championship semi-final on Sunday before entertaining the Yorkshiremen at the Kassam stadium on May 18, with the final thereafter.

The matches promise to deliver pressure rugby at its very best, with a place in the Championship final up for grabs, but for May it is a pressure to be welcomed.

“You’re in a part of the season that’s a privilege to play in. We don’t want to be on holiday, we want to still be playing and hopefully we can continue that into June,” said the ex-Newcastle Falcon and Northampton Saint.

“It’s an opportunity that not every player gets, whether that’s playing in the Premiership play-offs or to be promoted from the Championship. You can’t be afraid of what lies ahead – you have to embrace it and be excited.

“When you’re playing in the Premiership year in, year out you probably don’t understand just how much of a carrot it is to people that aren’t playing in it.

“I was very lucky to play a lot of rugby in the Premiership, but now it’s an opportunity for us to get back to where we feel we should be.”