Tigers begin a 16th season of European competition with a trip to face the four-time winners at Le Stadium in Toulouse in the opening round of Pool 2 action.
Cockerill, who spent two years as a player in France and has been with Tigers in each of the club’s five visits to a European final, said: “They’re historically the best club in France, they’re the most successful team in Europe, and there’s not a harder place to go so, we’ve got to be right.
“It’s the unique nature of the Heineken Cup to go to places like Toulouse and have two good sides playing each other in the first round.
“The pool stages are not a procession –you have to perform really well from day one.
“This could be the kind of fixture to grace a quarter-final or semi-final, with two good sides, two well-supported sides and hopefully a great occasion.”
Tigers announced their team at noon on Friday, with Steve Mafi and Scott Hamilton returning from injury to take a place in the starting line-up and Marcos Ayerza included in the matchday squad for the first time this season on his return from intenational duty with Argentina.
Toulouse coach Guy Novès describes Sunday’s match as the one “everyone is waiting for” between two traditionally strong sides.
“Leicester is a team that has been European champions, champions of England and has experience at least equal to our own, so this will be a match of the highest level,” he said. “It is a match everyone has been waiting for since the start of the season. Anything can happen in this competition as we saw last year when we beat Harlequins away and they came to win in Toulouse.”
