He acknowledges that Racing face a huge task to reach the quarter-finals this term, having been paired with defending champions and three-time winners Saracens, double champions Munster Rugby and Welsh side Ospreys in Pool 4 of the Heineken Champions Cup.

“We’re going to keep our feet on the ground and remain realistic,” stressed the 51–year-old, who won the European Cup with Brive in 1997.

“It’s a really top pool, with the reigning champions, a team that almost always features in the final or semi-final in the shape of Munster, and the Ospreys, who are one of the major provinces in Wales.”

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Racing have twice reached the final recently – losing 21-9 to Saracens in 2016 in Lyon and 15-12 to Leinster Rugby in Bilbao in 2018.

However, Travers pointed out: “We don’t want to set overly high targets and are looking to remain grounded.

“Our biggest priority is the game against Saracens and after the Saracens match it’ll be our second game, against Munster, after which we’ll take stock.

“The first step is qualification, so we’ll be doing what it takes to qualify, full stop. We’ll then think about what comes next.”

Racing 92 director of rugby Laurent Travers has promised that the Parisian club will “keep our feet on the ground” as they chase a place in the knockout stages of the European Cup for the fifth time in six seasons in 2019/20.