Dimitri Yachvili - man of the match in France's Grand Slam decider against England last month - believes Biarritz Olympique have their best chance of reaching the semi-finals for the first time after twice falling at the last eight in the past three seasons.
They travel to Stradey Park to meet Llanelli Scarlets in the opening match of the weekend on Friday night with the goal-kicking scrum half declaring: "We are ready for this - it's now or never.
"Llanelli Scarlets are a great side with some great players and we are already looking forward to the game.
"It is at their ground with everything that a home atmosphere in Wales brings to a match and it should be a special occasion.
"We have reached the quarter-finals twice before but now we are desperate to go further. We are motivated and ambitious and I think that our vital Pool victory at Sale in January was a key turning point in our fortunes.
"We then went on and played very well in our match at Biarritz against Leinster Lions but it is really this knock-out match at Llanelli which will enable us to see how good we are.
"I think we have got a good chance because this Biarritz team has never been as good as it is this season - the crushing defeat at the hands of Leinster in the first round was just a blip."
And fellow Grand Slam winner and clubmate Serge Betsen says his side will take the lead from Perpignan's performance at Stradey Park at the same stage of last season's tournament when they crushed Welsh dreams with a 26-19 victory.
Llanelli do not have a great track record against French clubs in the knock-out stages and are yet to record a knock-out win over a French club after losing to Brive (1997) and Perpignan (1999 and 2003) at the quarter-finals stage.
"We must be capable of meeting this challenge," said Betsen, the back row hard man for both club and country.
"Last year was the second time we had reached the quarter-final stage and we came up against a good Leinster side who gave us some problems on the day.
"We know we are going to have to show determination and ambition if we are to win at Stradey Park.
"I played against a number of Llanelli players in France's Six Nations game against Wales at the Millennium Stadium last month and Stephen Jones in particular is an excellent player.
"Llanelli are full of internationals - Welsh and an Irishman - and Wales are a real force to be reckoned with at the moment.
"They play a dynamic game with a lot of movement. It's very exciting to play against them and they put us in a lot of trouble in Cardiff.
"We are going to do everything we possibly can to go through to the next round. Nothing is out of reach. Perpignan showed us the way by winning there last year and we will try to follow in their steps."
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)