Wales and Scarlets captain Matthew Rees believes the Heineken Cup is the ultimate club challenge.
The 30-year-old hooker is back in action with the Scarlets after Six Nations duty and is looking to help his region cement their place in next year's tournament and qualify for the play-off stage of the Magners League.
The Scarlets are currently sixth in the celtic league, but just five points off second and look in a strong position to qualify for the Heineken Cup, a tournament in which they have a proud 13 year history in.
"For me personally as a regional player the Heineken Cup is where you test yourself against the best and is where you want to be playing," said Rees.
The Llanelli-based side haven't made it into the knock-out stages of the tournament since 2007, when they reached the last-four but Rees believes they are not too far away from where they would like to be.
"I really don't think we are a million miles away," he added.
"This is the first year for a long time that we have had a strong contingent of Scarlets players in the Welsh squad. The likes ofJosh, McCusker, Rhys, Tavis have been really good for us, come on a lot and the experience of being involved in the Wales camp can only benefit them as players and benefit us as a team.
"In the Heineken this year we had a couple of injuries in the front-row in Europe but we came up against two of the biggest packs in the competition in Leicester and Perpignan and we held our own against both.
"You look at the strength in depth in their squad, but the good thing is that we are keeping the key players in our squad, who have re-signed.
"We have a strong contingent of players in Wales Under-20, the majority of them have re-signed so that is great moving forward."