Narbonne travel to Viadana in round two on Friday night with Labit adamant they will be giving the Italians their full respect.

“The biggest mistake people make is to underestimate the Italians and, as last time I looked they were second in the Italian Super 10, I certainly wouldn't discount them.” said the former Toulouse favourite.

“Winning the Heineken Cup twice and completing the hat-trick for Toulouse is an unbelievable feeling. The end of last season was amazing for me and then I felt I needed to move to Narbonne to get first team rugby.

“Some people might think it could be hard for me to psyche myself up for the European Challenge Cup but I am a very competitive guy. I enjoy playing rugby and winning and hate to lose so the idea that the Challenge Cup isn't important for me is a total non-starter!

“As for the pool, there is pretty much only one word to describe that - Northampton! It feels like wherever I go, I still end up playing against them. But I have to add that it's a real pleasure. I respect them as a team and as opponents more and more and I get to see these players who I'm starting to think of as old friends now.

“They are certainly going to be tough to beat but I'm going to enjoy trying. I didn’t really know Bristol at all – I had never met them with Toulouse – but they gave us a good game.

“We've had a tough start to the season with a lot of injuries and we lost a crucial game to Brive which hurt us a lot but the squad is getting back to full strength and we're determined to pick things up.

“Going all the way would be amazing for Narbonne. This is a team that has never played in the Heineken Cup and of course it's what every European Challenge Cup team wants to achieve. I'm not expecting us to make it for next season but that's testament to the quality of the tournament.”

On Sunday, Saints will travel to the Memorial Ground to play Bristol where Ben Cohen will arrive as the tournament's highest scorer following his hat-trick against Viadana. John Rudd also features in the table with his brace of tries. Saints currently top pool one of the European Challenge Cup with five points. Narbonne are in second place with four, Bristol in third with one point and Viadana in fourth with no points yet.

EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CUP LEADING SCORERS 2005/06

TRIES
3 Ben Cohen (Northampton Saints)
3 Keith Mathews (Connacht Rugby)
2 Colin Charvis (Newcastle Falcons)
2 Charles Hore (Border Reivers)
2 Conor McPhillips (Connacht Rugby)
2 Stuart Moffat (Border Reivers)
2  Rachid Ourak (Toulon)
2 John Rudd (Northampton Saints)
2 Darren Yapp (Connacht Rugby)

POINTS
26 Jonny Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons)
17 Charles Hore (Border Reivers)
16 Shane Drahm (Worcester Warriors)
15 Ben Cohen (Northampton Saints)
15 Keith Mathews (Connacht Rugby)
15 Jérome Miquel (Agen)
12 Bruce Reihana (Northampton Saints)
11 Ludovic Mercier (Gloucester Rugby)
11 Paul Warwick (Connacht Rugby)