PAT MacARTHUR is ready to put his body on the line to give Glasgow Warriors a French connection to remember this weekend.

The Scotstoun side go head to head in Paris with Racing 92 - Racing Metro's latest rebranding - in the first round of the European Champions Cup.

And the big hooker will lead the charge from the front as Warriors, fresh from last season's Guinness Pro12 triumph, aim to another monkey off their backs as they try to win through to the quarter finals of a European competition.

"That's why you play, isn't it? To come up against these boys and have a shot at them," he said with his huge grin demonstrating the sense of excitement already there.

"Going to Paris, is is a huge challenge, they are a classy outfit and a big bunch of boys. We are a tight-knit group though and we will go that extra mile for each other, that will be a big part of the game for us.

"We know it is all down to us to turn up, be disciplined and put the work into the game. France is a tough place to play, as a forward and as an away team it is a tough, tough place to go so it will be a good match to be involved in."

Like all the players he knows all about Glasgow's sorry record in Europe. As the tournaments have gone through changes in structure and branding one thing has remained constant – while Glasgow always had the capacity to pull out huge results, they have never had the ability to string them together and make it through to the last eight. It hurts even more that Edinburgh have managed the feat twice, But MacArthur feels the team is in a good place for taking on the challenge ahead. The internationals from four World Cup squads – plus Taqele Naiyaravoro who only just missed out on being there with Australia – have arrived back and with a game or two under their belts are starting to gel as a club team again.

"A big part of the club is how close-knit our group is," MacArthur said. "There has been a lot of learning on the field and a lot of learning off the field to help one another so that when we have changes in personnel it does not affect us massively and we can gel and make a tighter unit. Europe is the next step. We give ourselves goals at the start of every season and that is one of the goals for his season – to make an impact in that area."

In recent weeks they have shown both parts of their game; wining with style against the Ospreys and then gutsing out a bonus point win in Cardiff on an afternoon when nothing seemed to click. "I knew the boys had done a lot of fitness work, so the gas was in the tank and it was just a matter of time," MacArthur maintained.

They will need both the style they showed the week before and the fighting spirit from the weekend to stand a chance in Paris, but an away win in the opening round would set them on their way to making more history.