Guy Noves wants some Irish revenge when Toulouse open their Heineken Cup campaign at 1999 European champions Ulster on Saturday in their own mission impossible...
The Toulouse coach says the French side are still smarting from being dumped out of last season's cup at the quarterfinal stage when Leinster poached a 41-35 win at Stade Municipal.
But having been hammered 46-9 by Clermont Auvergne a fortnight ago in the French Championship, Toulouse are struggling for form this season and Noves admits he is more concerned with Saturday's performance than the result.
In contrast, Ulster are unbeaten at Ravenhill this season and Noves said: "we are looking for a bit of revenge after our defeat at home to Leinster last year, but it is our performance as a starting point for our campaign which is much more important.
"Everyone knows that there are certain games you are not expected to win in this tournament and away to Ulster is definitely one of them.
"They know what it's like to be European champions and I know they'll be looking to go as far as they can in this year's tournament.
"To be honest, I'd be feeling under more pressure if we were playing against the likes of Calvisano away as that's a tough game we know we can't afford to lose.
"It's true that we're approaching this game from a difficult position.
"We have not had an ideal start to the season and getting a win away to Ulster is a massive task for us.
"Our first priority is to go out and put in a good performance which is what we really need as a team."
.jpg)
