They both know what it takes to go all the way and lift the Heineken Cup but something will have to give when Northampton Saints and Toulouse clash at Franklin's Gardens in Round 3 of the tournament on Saturday.
The clubs have both won their two opening games with Toulouse at the top of the group by virtue of the try bonus point they collected in the home victory over Glasgow Rugby.
They will, however, be without concussion victim Trevor Brennan and are sweating on the fitness of Jean-Baptiste Elissalde.
The only previous meeting between the sides came in the 2003 quarter-finals, the French club making home advantage count with a 32-16 win on their way to winning the Heineken Cup for a record-equalling second time. The Saints had their finest hour in Europe when they beat Munster in the 2000 final.
"When we played against Northampton in that Heineken Cup quarter-final it was a very hard game," said Guy Noves, the Toulouse head coach.
"We only just won the match and are aware of the strength of the Northampton side. Certainly our aim on the away fixture, with such limited preparation and a quality opposition, will be to try and play to our full potential.
"We are looking to qualify for the knock-out stages and for the away game I am far more interested in the result than the performance itself.
"So far in this season's Heineken Cup we have played rugby in difficult conditions and have done what was necessary to come out with the wins that we needed - we have ensured that going into the match against Northampton we have everything to play for.
"There are certainly things we could improve on and a team can always perform better but, as far as results are concerned, I am very happy with the performance of Toulouse."
The end of the Autumn internationals means the Heineken Cup teams will welcome back their Test players but Noves believes he faces a tough task in trying to ensure his players are mentally and physically right for club duty.
"We lost nine players to international commitments and, although the seven who were with the French squad will have been together all month, the team has had to work around the loss of these players," he said.
"Combined with the other international players we have lost and the injuries we have at Toulouse, there are about 12 or 13 players that have not been part of the Toulouse team during November.
"Clearly this is going to have a negative influence on the team and at a point when the international players are going to come back tired and in need of rest they will have to slot back into the squad and begin preparation for the trip to Northampton."
