Toulon became the first club to win the European Cup three years in a row from 2013 to 2015, beating Saracens 23-6 in the 2014 final, before the Gallagher Premiership side also claimed European club rugby’s top prize three times – in 2016, 2017 and 2019.

Now they are both bidding for a first Challenge Cup, much to the delight of Azéma, whose club host Saracens at the Stade Félix-Mayol.

“It's a fabulous match-up - everyone dreamed of it,” he said. “That’s what happens at the moment. They are used to these games. They are used to the Champions Cup. They know what’s required, so we have to recover well for this battle.”

His thoughts were echoed by scrum-half Baptiste Serin, who revealed that the Toulon squad had watched Saracens romp to a 44-15 triumph at Gloucester in last Friday’s quarter-final.

“It's going to be a high-standard clash,” commented the French international. “It's super-positive to play this type of match when you think we were so far from this level a few months ago.

“It's going to be very hard, but that's the Challenge Cup and it’s our goal because we want to go to Marseille (for the final).”

RC Toulon head coach Franck Azéma has labelled Saturday’s EPCR Challenge Cup semi-final with Saracens the tie that the TOP 14 club “dreamed of” as it pits two three-time European champions against each other.