It's England v France in the second round of the PARKER PEN CHALLENGE CUP this weekend with Stade Francais, Bordeaux-Begles and Colomiers all heading to London for top flight matches.
Heading the cast will be the battle between the teams from the capital cities of the two nations, NEC Harlequins and Stade Francais, while former European Shield winners and European Rugby Cup finalists, Colomiers, travel to Saracens.
The other Anglo-French fixture is the match-up of London Wasps and Bordeaux-Begles, a game that will see international stars like Lisandro Arbizu, Richard Dourthe, James MacLaren and Christophe Lassucq taking on Lawrence Dallaglio, Rob Howley, Joe Worsley and Phil Greening.
The luck of the draw means that all three French teams have to travel in the first leg and the English sides' will be seeking to make home advantage pay at the weekend - NEC Harlequins play on Saturday and Saracens and London Wasps play on Sunday.
"We want to qualify for the next round. We know that Harlequins have hardly lost at home this season, so it is going to be very difficult," said Stade Francais' French international centre Stephane Glas.
"They are a very good team, but we won't be travelling to London to merely get a measure of their side - we will be looking to play our natural game and to win.
"We aren't doing badly in the French Championship, but we also want to go as far as possible in Europe. We are looking for two top notch performances against Harlequins so we can go through to the next round."
Colomiers' new coach, Philippe Ducousso, knows all about reaching a major European final having been the assistant to Jacques Brunel when his team reached the final of the European Rugby Cup in Dublin in 1999.
Ducousso was drafted in two weeks ago to take over from Jean-Phillipe Cariat and Serge Milhas after Colomiers made a poor start to the season. His appointment was an immediate success with a 23-16 home win over Beziers last weekend.
"We will continue to work hard all week. We have got to build on our success against Beziers," said Ducousso.
"The game against Saracens will serve as a real reference point for us. We need to prepare well both mentally and physically.
"It is an important game for us and we will give Saracens the repect they deserve. They are a great team with many star names.
"They are a very professional outfit and it will be a real bonus for us to compete on even terms with them. We need a good performance this weekend because we are looking to qualify for the next round.
"The away match will condition the return game and, if we can stay in touch and impose our game plan on them, then it will give us the chance to make our home support count in the second leg.
"It's going to be a very difficult game for us and we will have to use all the expereince we have gained during our European ventures in the past."
Bordeaux-Begles have proved to be a real powerhouse side at home this season, beating Montauban, Castres, Stade Francais and Grenoble, but their away form hasn't been as good. They go into the game against London Wasps on Sunday with a 40-0 away defeat at Grenoble last weekend hanging over them.
But coach Christophe Reigt believes the new format of the PARKER PEN CHALLENGE CUP this season will provide enough incentive to his players to pull out a good performance.
"European games are a totally different experience to the French Championship. My players will learn a lot from playing home and away matches against London Wasps," said Reigt.
"We want to reach the next round, but we know it is going to be very difficult for us because London Wasps have some excellent players.
"We will do all we can to qualify over the two matches. The first fixture will be a case of testing the waters and judging the opposition.
"We managed to get some tapes of Wasps so it is up to us to pose them as many problems as we possibly can. We need to get a win at home and, to give ourselves a chance of doing that and reaching the next round, we must be difficult to beat this weekend."
BNo doubt keeping a special eye out on the result of this fixture will be world renowned French actor Gerard Depardieu, who is the vice-presdient of Bordeaux-Begles this season.
