Having only made their maiden European Cup appearance in the 2011-12 season, they are now in their seventh campaign and fully ready to take on Stade Français Paris and Leicester Tigers in Pool B.

“In previous years, I think we were pretty happy with being in the [Heineken] Champions Cup and participating,” he said.

“But I think now, having been in it for a while, there is a real hunger from the team and the coaching staff as well to really move forward with it, be competitive and put on a good showing.

“I think it speaks a lot about the team’s depth as well when you’re able to come into this competition now and you’re able to back it up and still compete in the middle of that URC [United Rugby Championship] season as well.”

With the likes of British and Irish Lions centre Bundee Aki, Ireland fly-half Jack Carty and scrum-half Kieran Marmion, Connacht have an array of talent at their disposal to fuel their Heineken Champion Cup assault.

“The way we’re playing as well and the depth and the strength of the squad that we’ve got, I think it would be silly not to come into it really excited and see it as a massive opportunity for us,” he stated.

“There needs to be consistency and you have to be able to deliver week in, week out, regardless of the opposition, and put in strong performances.

“That comes down to the way we’re training and so we kind of tried to address that. It came down to just that competition and being competitive with each other.

“Now that we do have that genuine competition for positions all around the field, it’s tough to get into the team at the moment, which is great. I think it drives a higher standard and more consistent performances.

“And I think then you do come into these games with confidence. I think that’s where we are at the moment; we’re feeling confident. We’re not there yet, we’ve still got lots to work on, but it’s pretty exciting.”

Connacht Rugby back-row forward Jarrad Butler has warned that the Irish province have “a real hunger” to do well in this season’s Heineken Champions Cup, after previously just being content to be in European rugby’s elite club competition.