Limerick leaves lasting impression on Kohn and co

"It was a great arena, a massive game for us and we really enjoyed the whole day, and the evening," said Kohn, who helped the Londoners book an Amlin Challenge Cup Final date with Stade Francais on Friday, May 20.

"You want to go away and play in these arenas. We went and had a look around the day before and it's an impressive place. But then when it's full with a sea of red, it's just incredible.

"It's an incredible place to go and play and that's the sort of experience you want. You thrive on that atmosphere."

Thrive was exactly what Quins did in mid-west Ireland a fortnight ago.

Few gave them a chance against the double European Champions at one of the continent's most feared venues, but Quins upset the odds to record a 20-12 win that raised plenty of heads across the continent.

At that the heart of that triumph was a healthy mix of respect and self-belief; a combination of awareness of what Munster have already achieved and what Quins believe they too are capable of producing.

"We respected them. We know how much they've achieved and how strong they've been at home over all these years. We respected that but we knew that, to go there and win, we had to implement our own game," added Kohn.

"We went out there with a real intensity. We know that we can create opportunities with the style we play.

"Maybe we haven't always finished off all our chances but we'd been away to Franklin's Gardens on New Year's Day and beaten Northampton with 13 men and we'd been away to Welford Road and beaten Leicester in the LV = Cup. Those games were big for us. We had to call upon that experience.

"We knew it was going to be backs against the wall stuff at certain stages of the game but, ultimately, our defence quashed a lot of their threats."

Quins' youngsters certainly stood up to everything Munster threw at them. When wave after wave of red jerseys pounding towards the tryline following Nick Easter's late dismissal, Kohn and co stood firm, refused to buckle and displayed a maturity far beyond their tender years.

While Kohn himself may have just turned 30, so many of the current Quins side are still in their early 20s. And to have withstood the Munster onslaught and achieved what only one other side had ever achieved in continental competition will surely stand them in good stead ahead of a mouth-watering clash with Stade at the Cardiff City Stadium.

It's a game Quins simply have to win. Defeat in the Welsh capital would end their hopes of Heineken Cup qualification and an assault on more European big boys like Munster next time out.

"We've known all year that to achieve results in big games everyone has to perform, not just the superstars.

"You look at people like Rory Clegg who came on at half time. What an experience it was for him. He played really well when he came on. For people like Joe Marler, who's just 20 years old, to experience that at that age and to perform well is outstanding.

"We think we belong in the Heineken Cup. We set ourselves targets and we want to be in the Heineken Cup next year playing against the best teams. It's really important to us, it really, really is."