Hadden Delighted At Draw

After causing an upset in last year's group stages when they turned over the much-fancied French side, Hadden's men saw their European dreams end when Toulouse put them to the sword in a 36-10 quarter final defeat.

But now Hadden reckons the Scottish side have learned their lessons and can go one step further this time around.

"I'm delighted we don't have to play them (Toulouse) again after last year," said Hadden. "But we did learn a great deal from our three games against them.

"I've no doubt we grew in stature after that experience and it was major boost to become the first Scottish side to reach the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

"Now it's vital for Scottish rugby that we make further progress this season."

Standing in Edinburgh's way will be another French outfit Perpignan as well as Powergen Cup holders Newcastle and Celtic League runners up The Dragons, but Hadden insists he is quietly confident.

"Starting off in Perpignan isn't going to be easy," he said. "But I'm just happy that after a worrying summer we have been able to keep together the bulk of our squad. Even though we will miss Simon Taylor and Tom Phillip for much of the season due to lont-term injuries, I feel we will be highly competitive."