DIRECTOR of Rugby Nick Kennedy is relishing the prospect of London Irish’s European Challenge Cup trip to French giants Stade Francais on Saturday night, writes Richard Ashton.

Exiles lost their opening Pool Four match 37-14 to Edinburgh at Madejski Stadium, and another defeat would make qualification for the knock-out stages unlikely even so early in the competition.

They head to the reigning champions who will be hoping to bounce back after falling victim to one of the biggest shocks in club rugby history following their 34-29 defeat at Russian minnows Krasny Yar.

And Kennedy, who spent two seasons at Toulon, said Irish must relish the opportunity.

He revealed: “It’s going to be a huge game against a big team, playing away in a big stadium.

“We’re looking forward to Stade Francais because we’ve got things we need to get right.

“That’s the good thing about the Challenge Cup and the Premiership, there’s the chance to put things right. We need to go there and fight with everything we’ve got to come away with a result.”

His sentiments were echoed by Irish’s all-time top try-scorer Topsy Ojo.

He said: “We’re definitely looking to progress and we know with Stade losing they’re going to be hurting from that.

“But we need to bounce back too. It’s a great opportunity to improve. Whoever goes out there is going to have to step up.”