London Welsh are hoping to turn their European debut into a double celebration - by beating Stade Francais Paris and giving Russian lock Kirill Kuleman the perfect birthday present.
Kuleman will turn 32 on Saturday and nothing would please him more than to pick up a victory over his old French rivals at the Kassam Stadium, Oxford.
An ever-present in coach Lyn Jones' Exiles side this season after joining them in the summer, the 12-times capped lock has faced Stade Francais many times in the Top 14 after four seasons at Agen and a further four at Castres Olympique. In that time he made 23 appearances in the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup.
"If we win it will be a good present for my birthday. Maybe I'll have an opportunity to score - I will try and do my best," said Kulemin.
"It has been a hard start in the Aviva Premiership. There were a lot of changes from the side that played in the Championship last year, but we've won two games and we've played big teams like Harlequins, Leicester and Saracens.
"Stade Francais are a good team and they've got a good scrum and lineout. I hope it's going to be an entertaining match and I'm also expecting it to be a fast.
"We'll be looking to play hard in the forwards, try and improve in the scrum and put a lot of pressure on in the line-out. The Top 14 is quite different to the Premiership.
"In France, it's much more open with more passes because the weather is different. In the Premiership there's more forward play, more pick and go."
