Leicester Tigers host the Ospreys this coming Sunday in a mouth-watering opening to Pool 3 of the Heineken Cup and both captains cannot wait to get started.
With neither side making the final four in last year's competition, both Ryan Jones and Martin Corry will looking to make amends this time around.
"We were bitterly disappointed last year when we didn't go through to the semi-finals in what was otherwise a successful season for us," said Ospreys and Wales skipper Jones.
"We learned a big lesson from our defeat against Saracens in last year's quarter-final - we don't want to make those same mistakes again."
Jones, who led his country to Grand Slam glory in March, believes that the disappointment of previous Heineken Cup exits will help the region achieve their potential in 2008/09.
"When you look at the heavyweights in this tournament - the likes of Munster, Toulouse, Leicester and Wasps - they have all been at the business end year in, year out and learnt from their mistakes.
"We have a fantastic history with Leicester and we're getting to know each other very well. It's in games like these that you measure how good you really are. The Heineken Cup is where every player wants to be playing and we have two fantastic fixtures to open up with - Leicester away and Perpignan at home. We will see where we are after that."
Former England skipper Corry came within 80 minutes of captaining Leicester to a remarkable treble in 2006/07, but defeat to Wasps at Twickenham meant he fell just short of a third Heineken Cup crown.
Three away defeats during last season's group stages saw the Tigers make an early exit from Europe's premier competition and Corry isn't taking anything for granted in this year's tournament.
"You can't afford to look further than the next game in the Heineken Cup because the standard of European rugby is improving so much," says Corry, who picked up successive winners' medals in 2001 and 2002.
"We are proud of our record in Europe at Welford Road but history and tradition don't win matches."
Like Jones, Corry believes the Heineken Cup is the perfect place to test yourself, especially against an opposition he admits he and his team-mates have a great deal of respect for.
"You build up great rivalries in this tournament and we certainly have that with the Ospreys. We have a huge amount of respect for them. They keep on improving, although we like to think we are doing so as well.
"I'm looking forward to Sunday's game hugely. It's in the Heineken Cup that you judge yourself. If you think you are a good side with the potential of becoming a great side, then this is the tournament in which you have to perform in order to prove yourself."
