Montpellier a new French force

Montpellier shot to the fore in the 2008 Six Nations Championship when four of their players were selected by new French coach Marc Lievremont - including 21-year-old Fulgence Ouedraogo.

The flanker, along with No 8 Louis Picamoles, scrum half Julien Tomas and fly half Francois Trinh-Duc, were all part of Lievremont's brave new world, though Trinh-Duc will miss the European Challenge Cup quarter-final against Worcester Warriors at Sixways on Saturday due to a wrist injury.

Montpellier - who drew 14-14 with Sale Sharks in their final Pool match in January - are appearing in the tournament's knock-out stages for the first time and Ouedraogo is relishing the challenge of taking on the Warriors.

"I have never played against Worcester Warriors - the only experience I have against a strong English team is when we travelled to play against Sale Sharks in Round 1 of the Pool stages," he said.

"But I have a fairly good idea of what to expect and I know it is going to be difficult. My team-mates played against them last season but we haven't had the chance to talk about that game so far although it will certainly be discussed during preparations this week.

"Obviously our team hasn't yet got the same number of players to choose from as a bigger club, so we find it hard to be as competitive both in the French championship and in the European Challenge Cup and we can struggle to combine the two.

"However it does look as though we are more efficient this year in that respect. In the European tournament, it is riskier to play against unknown teams but at least it allows you to familiarise yourself with different styles of play and see what type of rugby is played in England and Italy, for example.

"It is always a bonus to learn from that while the pressure isn't as significant in the European Challenge Cup as it is in the Top 14 so we can try different things and we have more leeway.

"There was not much transition time once the Six Nations campaign was over so we have had to get back into our club routine again, which was tough.

"I had a great time with the French squad. It was a formidable experience that taught me a lot and playing at international level is something else.

"It is the ultimate stage and it gives you so much on both personal and professional levels. It was all fast pace and intensity and it constantly requires a lot of focus and a high level of commitment - you have to be able to give everything you have.

"However, we have had to come back down to earth after such a wonderful experience as there is a lot at stake in the coming weeks.

"We are currently experiencing a bad time in the championship but the fact that we qualified for the Challenge Cup quarter-finals is a great achievement because the club had lost the habit of reaching the final stages of any tournament.

"Now we will do our best to win the quarter-final against Worcester - especially as we will be at home in the semi-finals if we can do that. That would be amazing for the club to achieve that but there's a lot to be done before we can even think of it and we expect the game against the Worcester Warriors to be very tough."