Ospreys are flying - Auradou

The Test second row - just one appearance short of winning an ERC award for 50 Heineken Cup matches - saw his team start with a win and try bonus point against Rugby Calvisano while the Ospreys stunned Sale Sharks in a grandstand finish.

"The Ospreys are a big challenge," said Auradou. "It's not often that you come up against teams where they have half the national team playing for them as you do with the Celtic teams.

"They have a lot of high quality players who pose a real threat.

"And we have seen a great improvement in Welsh rugby over the last few years - they are certainly serious competitors in the Heineken Cup tournament.

"We were very impressed with their performance when we saw them beat the reigning English champions.

"We know that this is a must-win game. Nobody can afford to lose at home in this tournament and, with the trips to Wales and Sale still to come, we certainly can't produce anything less than a 100% performance."

In last season's tournament the Ospreys won 13-8 at the Liberty Stadium, Auradou adding: "Last year's defeat to the Ospreys was under difficult circumstances for us.

"There were very poor weather conditions and we were carrying a lot of injuries but we under-performed and they definitely deserved the victory. We are obviously going to try and turn things around against them this year.

"The Heineken Cup is obviously a higher level than domestic competition, it's the step between domestic and international rugby.

"The referees are of a high standard but obviously not French so we have to get used to variations in refereeing styles. The other big factor is that we are up against teams with international standard goal kickers.

"This makes a massive difference and everyone has to up their levels of discipline and keep their heads. The teams who are the most successful in this tournament are those who make the least errors.

"I'm refusing to talk about bonus points before the match as that's the surest way of jinxing yourself! The goal for us is to win this game and if we can do that with a bonus point then that would be fantastic, but we are going into this game with our eyes wide open."