With the three best runners-up going through to the last eight with the five Pool winners, Brive, the 1997 Heineken Cup champions, know their chances rest on the one match.

“It is a ‘must-win’ game for us,” said Brive captain Jerome Bonvoisin.

“We are lucky to finish the Pool stages at home and we are determined to make the most of the home advantage. Qualification for the quarter-finals is an important goal for us and we need to win with a bonus point to ensure that we get that.

“We have started a heavy week of preparation for Saturday’s game. We are very aware that we are playing against a high-level English team and that we need to be at our best to get the result we need.

“I didn’t play in the away leg but, watching the video, it’s easy to see that Newcastle have a very complete team. Their forwards are very strong and effective and the backs are particularly dangerous.

“Jonny Wilkinson is obviously significant but they have high quality throughout their back-line and that’s where we suffered in the game at Kingston Park. We will be spending a lot of the week looking at the best way to deal with their running game.

“As far as our selection is concerned, it’s difficult to know at this stage who will be playing. We enjoy playing in the European Challenge Cup because we are not under the same pressure as in the Top 14, but we need to balance that with the fact that we really want to get into the quarter-finals.

“We’ll be picking our team based on the best way to tackle Newcastle – it is a must-win game both in terms of qualification and our team pride!”