Connacht's return to the Heineken Champions Cup is a validation of the club’s approach, says captain Jarrad Butler.
Andy Friend’s team find themselves in Pool 5 where they will meet Toulouse, Montpellier and Gloucester.
It will be their fourth campaign in Europe’s premier competition and first since 2016/17. The westerners qualified by finishing third in their Guinness Pro14 conference last season.
"A couple of years ago we set that as a goal for ourselves," Butler told RTÉ Sport.
"And to be here now and being able to be competitive hopefully [shows] that we are moving in the right direction.
"It says that you are doing something right. It means that you are playing good rugby because you have to qualify through performance and performance alone
"When we qualified it validated that we had a good year and we were playing good rugby and we deserved to be here.
"It’s exciting to go over there and play, especially the French teams that you don’t get to see a lot of and to go up against the likes of Toulouse and Montpellier, two powerhouses, it’s an exciting prospect.
3,097 - Since making his @PRO14Official debut in 2017/18 @ButlerJarrad has played more minutes than any other player in the competition (3,097) and made the third most tackles (532). Green. pic.twitter.com/vD1oSPthfM
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) November 6, 2019
The 28-year-old back row, who joined in 2017, this week signed an extended deal that will take him up to the end of the 2021/22 season. The former Australia underage international will become Ireland-qualified next year.
"I was really keen to stick around," added the former Brumbies and the Queensland Reds forward.
"I've seen a lot of growth in the club and for me individually over the last couple of seasons. It’s something I wanted to stay a part of."
Connacht, who are second in Conference B, host Conference A leaders Leinster at the Sportsground on Friday night.
