“Stade are recognised as one of the best teams in club rugby and have been consistently excellent over the last ten years, they are a top team in France and Europe.

They are very fortunate to have the backing of Max Guazzini who provides them with financial backing they need to attract the top players from all over the world.

We have played Stade a number of times and have beaten them at home each time and have come close to beating them in Paris.

The Heineken Cup is the premier rugby tournament in the Northern Hemisphere and every player wants to be involved.
It simply can’t be compared to any other tournament.

Ravenhill has always been a special place for the Heineken Cup, there is some great history here and the lads want to make history again this weekend.

Every player in the squad wants to play in the Heineken Cup and against the best teams, Stade are the top team at the minute and it is going to be very exciting on Saturday afternoon at Ravenhill.

The players turned a corner on Friday night beating Edinburgh and the hope is now that we can go up another level and take the game to Stade. I am confident that with the group of players that we have we are more than capable of doing that.

The atmosphere at Ravenhill on Heineken Cup days is just electric, I don’t think anyone can forget what happened against Toulouse two seasons ago, nobody gave us a chance but ourselves.

I am really looking forward to Saturday, Heineken Cup days at Ravenhill are just special.”