Ryan believes his side have done well to earn a home tie in the top eight of Europe, but Munster’s 10th successive Heineken Cup quarter-final gives them a level of experience to test the best.

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“This is the top end of Europe and for us to progress is fantastic for us and to be in control of the group and a home tie is a great reward for the progress that has gone on in the last 12 months,” said Ryan.

“Munster is a fantastic game, the fans have got a great affiliation with each other and whatever the capacity of the new Kingsholm it will be well exceeded in the bars around the ground.

“We have got to play well and it is a new experience for us at this level and knowing what kind of game is needed, while Munster have lots of experience at this as their 10th time in the tournament and know how to get their game to turn up.

“There are some new faces here this year and some of that is dictated by the seedings and how the groups are formatted, but Munster came through a tremendous group and deserve credit for that.

“They have a lot of good players and have adapted a game which works well in Europe, they have outstanding players in the spine and bring an enormous amount of physicality to their game.

“As we have seen in recent weeks that is very difficult to deal with and they have brought their game to various weather conditions and various stadiums as well where it will be a new experience for us.

“We know that when our game is going well we can compete at this level. We are pleased to be here and are looking forward to seeing how we go against such tough opponents.”