Tom Hayes has become used to seeing his elder brother John steal the rugby limelight in his family, but the Exeter Chiefs skipper will be most definitely be on centre stage on Thursday night when he leads his team into the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals against Stade Francais Paris.
Such a fixture would have been unthinkable even half-a-dozen seasons ago when the Chiefs were not in the top flight. But now Hayes, who led the west country team into the Premiership two seasons ago is describing the game at Stade Charlety as the biggest in the club's 141 year history.
In only their second season in the Amlin Challenge Cup, the Chiefs have reached the last eight by beating Perpignan and the Newport Gwent Dragons twice. Now comes the ultimate test for one of the new forces in English rugby.
"This is the biggest game the club has ever played - we've never been at this level before," said Hayes, who has led his side to six wins in their last seven outings.
"There was a lot of euphoria attached to our promotion wins against Bristol, and to certain wins in the Premiership, but when you look at it the Amlin Challenge Cup is probably the highest level of competition the club has ever played in.
"This is the rugby we all want to be playing in and there's no point in us being afraid of being here. We have to try and enjoy the challenge.
"We realise they've got some massive names and Stade has been a marquee name in rugby for 10 or 15 years now. But they're the big challenge that we have to relish and we have to face up to."
