The Treviso-based outfit became the first Italian side to reach the last four of an EPCR competition when they beat Cardiff Rugby earlier this month and their reward is a trip to four-time finalists Toulon.

Duvenage warned that his side will leave nothing on the pitch at the Stade Félix Mayol as they bid to stun the TOP 14 heavyweights and reach the final in Dublin.

"I feel some nervous energy, which is always a positive thing,” the South African told Benetton’s website. “We are ready to face the challenge and we are happy and excited for the occasion. We want to make our fans proud of us.

"I will tell the team to believe in themselves, in their abilities and in every person next to them. We are playing for much more than ourselves; we are playing for the green and white shirt, for our families and our fans. We can take an even bigger step in history."

Benetton met Toulon in the EPCR Challenge Cup Round of 16 last season and although that ended in a 36-17 defeat, Duvenage believes there were lessons to be learned from that occasion.

"We are lucky to have played against them last year, so we can use the game played a year ago in Toulon as a useful experience for Sunday,” he added.

“Like all French teams, Toulon like to play without a defined structure, so we have to control what we can, which is the location and the territory, as much as possible.”

Benetton Rugby scrum-half and captain Dewaldt Duvenage admitted there are both nerves and excitement among his teammates as they gear up for their historic EPCR Challenge Cup semi-final at RC Toulon on Sunday.