Biarritz Olympique coach Patrice Lagisquet has named a powerful side to take on Llanelli Scarlets in their do-or-die Heineken Cup quarter-final clash at Stradey Park on Friday night.
The former France winger has injury problems at centre - with both Australian Marc Stcherbina and Guillaume Bosses out - but has able replacements in John Isaac and Argentinian international Martin Gaitan.
'The challenge for us is to finally manage to win a Heineken Cup quarter-final,' said Lagisquet, acknowledging Biarritz's two last-eight defeats in the past three seasons.
'Our previous efforts in this tournament show that we're not far away from a semi-final spot, so we're confident.
'The level of play we've showed this season proves we're capable of winning. Our problem at the moment is that we're finding it difficult getting back to the level of play we were showing before the Six Nations.
'We didn't play as a team in Saturday's defeat at Grenoble - we made some defensive errors that I've never seen before.
'We have a motivational problem in some games, but we won't have that problem on Friday.
'Llanelli are like us - they've had a lot of international players absent during the Six Nations. They don't play the same game as Wales so hopefully they are experiencing similar problems gelling again as a team.
'We know it's going to be a tough battle up front, and we have to be prepared to counter Llanelli in every facet.'
Lagisquet has the luxury of being able to name an international halfback pairing in Julien Peyrelongue and Dmitri Yachvili, the hero of France's Grand Slam win over England last month, and can afford to leave veteran winger Philippe Bernat-Salles on the bench.
In the backrow, Biarritz boast Romanian star Ovidiu Tonita, big No 8 and captain Thomas Lievremont and one of the best flankers in the business in Serge Betsen. The trio will have to be at their best, however, as they take on the likes of Scott Quinnell, Dafydd Jones and Simon Easterby on Friday night.
Llanelli Scarlets: B Davies; G Evans, M Taylor, M Watkins, S Finau; S Jones, D Peel; I Thomas, R McBryde, J Davies, V Cooper (capt), C Wyatt, D Jones, S Easterby, S Quinnell
Replacements: J Thiel, A Gravelle, A Jones, D Hodges, M Phillips, G Bowen, L Davies
Biarritz Olympique: N Brusque; P Bidabe, M Gaitan, J Isaac, J Marlu; J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili; P Balan, J Gonzalez, D Avril, H Manent, D Couzinet, S Betsen, O Tonita, T Lievremont (capt)
Replacements: J Campo, M Fitzgerald, S Puleoto, O Nauroy, TBC, P Bernat-Salles, L Mazas,
Referee: Chris White (England)
