James Haskell has demanded his Wasps team-mates give Lawrence Dallaglio a triumphant farewell befitting a "legend" of the sport.
Dallaglio will say an emotional goodbye to a packed Adams Park in Sunday's Guinness Premiership play-off showdown against Bath.
And with the revered Wasps skipper set to retire at the end of the season, it could yet be the final match of an epic 18-year playing career spent at just one club.
To mark the occasion Dallaglio has had a special pair of boots made, inscribed with '1990-2008' to mark the length of his unstinting service at the highest level.
But Haskell - Dallaglio's understudy and back-row colleague - is determined to ensure that after Sunday the old warrior will need to strap on the armour one final time.
"We have to win this game because we're a club built for success and we want to end the season with a trophy," he said.
"But more importantly we can't have someone like Lawrence Dallaglio, who has won everything, and let him down by not at least reaching the final.
"We have to make sure he bows out the way he wants to. Losing a semi-final would be a disappointing way for a legend of the game to disappear into the ether.
"We'll focus more on this before the game. I expect it to figure heavily in his team talk - he'll remind us this could be his last match."
Dallaglio's impending retirement will leave a vacuum at the heart of Wasps that will be impossible to fill.
Probably more than any other figure at Adams Park he has driven the thirst for silverware, leading the club to three Premiership titles and two Heineken Cup crowns.
Haskell - a possible heir to Dallaglio's throne if he finds a solution to his ongoing contract dispute - explains how the 35-year-old has become synonymous with Wasps.
"Lawrence's attitude is incredible. He has won everything and leads by example," he said.
"Off the field he's been through it all as well, so if a younger player needs advice on anything he is a great guy to help.
"I was five when he started playing rugby! He's been such a consistent stalwart of the team. He gives 100% all of the time.
"In terms of leadership I'd never want to copy him as I'd like to do things my way. But there is definitely so much I could learn from him."
Dallaglio would already have been enjoying retirement but for a stunning rally in the second half of the season that saw Wasps win 10 out of their last 11 Premiership matches.
After propping up the table for a brief 24-hour period, that sequence swept them to second and set up a possible shot at the Twickenham title decider in two weeks.
"We're relieved because at one stage of the season we were out of the EDF Energy Cup, out of the Heineken Cup and pretty low in the Premiership," said Haskell.
"It was on the knife-edge of being a complete shoddy nightmare of a season.
"I'd been more involved this season than ever and I didn't want to be partly responsible for a season when we didn't win a trophy.
"That can still be the case but it's been very exciting to get where we are. Now for Lawrence's sake we must go all the way."
Wasps winger Paul Sackey will undergo a fitness test on his knee problem while Bath front rows Lee Mears and Matt Stevens have been given the all clear following their injury scares.
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