Mike Brown reckons the discipline of the table-topping Harlequins side will be crucial when they travel to Toulon to launch the defence of their Amlin Challenge Cup title on Friday night.
Quins are one of three Pool runners-up from the Heineken Cup who have joined the Amlin Challenge Cup at the quarter-final stages and now their sights are set firmly on becoming the first team to successfully defend the title.
But the English Premiership leaders will run into one of the tournament's most-fancied sides at the Stade Felix Mayol - a venue where Toulon have only been beaten once this season way back in the first week of September.
Fellow Englishman Jonny Wilkinson remains at the heart of a star-studded French outfit and his metronomic left boot could end Harlequins' hopes if they fall foul of Irish referee George Clancy.
And while Quins head to the south of France in high spirits having beaten defending Premiership champions Saracens in a top-of-the-table domestic encounter last weekend, Brown admits his side gave away a few more penalties than they would have liked as they saw three men sin-binned at a packed Wembley Stadium.
"Discipline has been talked about. It's something we have to improve if we want to go well in the Amlin and stay where we are in the league. It's especially true with Wilko this week - that will be a massive test of our discipline," said Brown, who starred in Quins' charge to Amlin glory in 2011.
"It was a tough game last week but we always we knew it would be: Saracens aren't the champions of England for no reason. They threw everything at us and we managed to hold out, but here's plenty to work on - our discipline could have let us down."
Toulon's array of world-class stars and a formidable home record will mean Quins start as second favourites despite being the reigning Amlin Challenge Cup champs.
But victory at Toulouse in the pool rounds of the Heineken Cup and a stunning success at Munster at this stage of last year's Amlin campaign has shown just what Quins are capable of on the road. Brown insists those results won't make the Londoners complacent, though, as they face what he describes as a 'massive ask' on the Cote d'Azur.
"We won at Munster last year; we did well at Toulouse and we did well at Gloucester, which is another hard place to play. We'll take confidence from those performances but this is a completely different game," added Brown.
"Those results are just there in the back of our minds. Toulouse was quite a long time ago so we'll just focus on our last game. We'll focus on how we can improve from the Saracens match and look at what we need to do to get a win against Toulon.
"I've never experienced Toulon before and I don't think this club has either. I've heard their war cry on the TV but I haven't experienced it first hand. They've got a brilliant atmosphere at their ground and the French fans are usually really passionate. I think any rugby player would enjoy playing over there.
"It's a big challenge as they've got some world-class players. That's why this competition is so good now. Toulon are a brilliant team and this could easily be a top-tier Heineken Cup game.
"We're massively looking forward to it. How can you not? These are the type of teams and these are the type of players you want to play against."
