Sale Sharks and Narbonne clash home and away in Round 2 of the European Challenge Cup with England captain Jason Robinson anxious to progress in a tournament that carries automatic qualification for the winners for the 2005 Heineken Cup.
"We have completed the Autumn internationals and apart from Trevor Woodman we have all the internationals back and available for selection," said Robinson.
"Narbonne will be difficult to beat as they ran Connacht close in the opening round, but we at Sale Sharks are desperate to succeed in the European Challenge Cup.
"The fact that we have lost three games on the trot during the Autumn internationals has left us in third place in the Zurich Premiership and we need to make the most of all our opportunities to get back into the Heineken Cup next season.
"We beat Narbonne home and away in the tournament in 2001-2002 and went on to win the trophy. We have trained together this morning to start our preparation for Saturday evening's game and we will be taking the game in France very seriously as well as affording Narbonne our full respect."
The pick of the Round 2 matches sees 2001 finalists Narbonne up against the 2002 champions Sale Sharks and the French club, who qualified for Round 2 as one of the lucky losers, are currently ninth in the French Top 16.
Peter Short - who made eight Heineken Cup appearances for Leicester Tigers - is now a key member of a Narbonne pack that also boasts Wales' most capped player, lock Gareth Llewellyn.
"I am really looking forward to playing against Sale," said Short. They're a very well organised, well-drilled team.
"Obviously players like Charlie Hodgson, Jason Robinson and Mark Cueto have been putting in great performances in the internationals which must give them a boost. We will need to work hard to stop them from playing their game.
"The French game is very different to the English one. English teams are far more interested in spoiling line-out possession and there's a much greater contest for the ball on the ground with English teams.
"French teams such as Narbonne have a massive level of support and, above all, winning at home is paramount. My only concern is that sometimes the passion and desire to win within the forwards can spill into indiscipline. We really can't afford that to happen against a team like Sale who are a very disciplined side."
