Mieres ready for shoot-out with Contepomi

And Mieres - who has scored 59 points in the Pool matches - could find himself in an exclusive Pumas No 10 head-to-head with Stade's first choice pivot and talisman Felipe Contepomi.

Mieres, the 24-year-old capped four times by Argentina, made three Heineken Cup appearances for Stade Francais in the 2009/10 tournament and relishes the chance of going up against some of his former team-mates, including fellow countryman Contepomi.

"Felipe is a legend in world rugby, let alone Argentine rugby, and it would be amazing to play against him," said Mieres, who also made a handful of appearances for Perpignan in 2009 as cover for the injured Dan Carter.

"You learn the most either playing with or against the very best and he is a truly great player.Of course they have lots of other fine players, like Sergio Parisse, Martin Rodriguez and Julien Dupuy, but for me Argentine prop Rodrigo Roncero is a real dangerman because not only is he a great player but also a great leader, who inspires and motivates his team-mates.

"When I was playing for Paris he taught me a great deal and while he is a world class player he is also a very interesting man and so important to Stade. We know they are doing a lot better in the Top 14 this season, getting some good results and playing some good rugby, although they did reach the 2011 Amlin Challenge Cup final and only narrowly lost by a point to Harlequins in Cardiff.

"Before that they had some really big name and amazing players and their five French Championship titles in 14 seasons since 1998 are more than any other club has managed in that period. I do not know their coach Michael Cheika personally but he won the Heineken Cup with Leinster and I have heard really good reports about him, his analysis of games, his preparations and work on opponents for matches coming.

"It is going to be really tough but the challenge for us is to see if we can beat a really good European team like Stade. Home advantage is huge at this stage of a tournament and they will have the majority of a big crowd behind them. French clubs generally are always more comfortable, confident and stronger playing at home and that is something we will have to overcome.

"But we have worked really hard to get to the quarter-finals with our only group defeat a narrow 15-12 result at Perpignan and all the players are really excited that the club has qualified for the knock-out stages in only our second season in Europe.

"We are an all-round team and perhaps our greatest strength is that we play for the full 80 minutes, we never give up, and it will need that determination from each and every player giving 100 per cent if we are to win and make the semi-finals. And with the winner playing away to either Toulon or Harlequins it will need two wins on the road for us to reach the final, and that is a huge challenge.

"The win against Gloucester in particular gave us renewed confidence - and that could be invaluable with the block of games we have coming up, starting with that huge Amlin quarter-final in Paris."