Chiefs will play the South African outfit, who have been added to the competition in a landmark expansion, and TOP 14 side Castres Olympique home and away in Pool A.

Kirsten joined Exeter in 2019 after a season in Japan, but the first years of his senior career were spent at Pretoria-based Bulls in his homeland.

He told Exeter’s website: “When I moved to England back in 2019, did I ever think I would be playing a game against the Bulls? At that time, they were in Super Rugby and I wanted to go over to Europe and try my hand at things over here.

“Obviously, a lot has changed in the last few years because of Covid and now the South African teams are playing in the URC (United Rugby Championship) and now in the Champions Cup.

“For me personally, it’s a very exciting draw, especially coming up against the club I started my career with.

“As I said, I didn’t expect to be facing them, but it will be a good challenge for us as a club. As people will have seen, they’ve just come runners-up in the URC and played very well in that competition.”

Ahead of the start of the 2022/23 competition in December, Kirsten warned Exeter – and other Heineken Champions Cup teams – that picking up wins against the South African clubs will be no mean feat.

The 28-year-old said: “Having the South African sides come into the [Heineken] Champions Cup will definitely add something to it.

“They have shown they are big, physical sides who can really test the opposition, but the other challenge for them and for teams in Europe will be adapting to conditions at that time.

“Going over to Pretoria, you’ll have to consider the altitude and the weather. It’ll be summer at that time, so it will be very hot.

“Equally, for the Bulls coming over here, it will be very different, probably wet weather and colder, so it’s going to test sides for sure.

“You know playing in those competitions you’re going to come up against world-class players and world-class teams.

“As players, though, it’s where you want to test yourself. You want to play against the best in the world and that’s definitely what happens in these competitions.”

Exeter Chiefs forward Jannes Kirsten is eager to get started in next season’s Heineken Champions Cup, after the 2020 champions were drawn against his former side, Bulls.