Gloucester Rugby have the honour of opening the new European club rugby season when they travel to France to take on Mont-de-Marsan in Thursday night's Amlin Challenge Cup Pool 1 contest.
And they do that on the back of claiming the West Country bragging rights with a 16-10 Aviva Premiership victory over Bath Rugby that head coach Nigel Davies believes has given them the perfect platform to launch their 17th European campaign.
"It is great that the win gives us the momentum going into the Amlin Challenge Cup and while we will not be making wholesale changes there are some players who deserve their chances," said former Wales centre Davies.
"If we're in it, we're in it to win it - we are in it to win every game - and for the next two weeks our focus is on the Amlin."
And outside half Freddie Burns warns that there is better to come from the 2006 Amlin Challenge Cup champions.
"We are not playing great but we are unbeaten in five and if we perform the way we want to for 80 minutes we will start putting teams to the sword."
Meanwhile Bath Rugby - former winners of both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup - start their bid for further European honours also on the road, against Bucharest Wolves, determined to bounce back with vital away points.
London Irish cause one of the major upsets of the weekend by ending Northampton Saints' winning start to the season with a 39-17 victory at the Madejski Stadium and they are another on their travels, taking on Bordeaux-Begles in one of the final tournament matches of the weekend.
