The holders won five out of their six matches in Pool One and centre Tipoki believes the Irish province have momentum on their side.

He said: "We knew we had to hit the ground running.

"We had some really tough games against Sale and Clermont Auvergne, which have hopefully put the team in good stead now for these quarter-finals, which are going to be really tough."

Munster v Ospreys - the top two in the Magners League - is arguably the pick of the quarter-finals and Tipoki reckons it can live up to top billing.

"All the teams are really good but Ospreys are a team we've got a lot of respect for and we actually like the way they play the game," he said.

"They use the ball well and use the space well so we're definitely going to have our hands full in the quarter-final, but hopefully the Thomond Park crowd can bring us home."