NEWPORT will take us lightly at their peril, warns Toulouse coach Guy Noves ahead of Saturday night's Heineken Cup clash at Rodney Parade.

Toulouse were forced to play their opening game against Leinster in Dublin last Friday night because of the damage to their ground caused by the recent chemical explosion which killed more than 20 people.

The French side went down 40-10 against the form team of Europe this season, who Newport meet three times in five weeks soon.

Newport, on the other hand, gained an outstanding victory at Newcastle. But Noves, the former French international, said: "Our hopes are still high, we are known to be great competitors and we won't give up until the final points are added up at the end.

"The score didn't reflect our performance against Leinster, we made a lot of mistakes and we are working hard this week to iron them out.

"Our main problem was not being able to gain quick ball so we couldn't put a decent sequence together.

Toulouse are the kings of French rugby, being French champions and winning the domestic title a remarkable six times in the last seven years, 1998 the odd year out.

They are led by France captain and lock Fabien Pelous. But Emile Ntamack, another of their famous names, is on the injured list and misses the Newport game.

Noves is aware of Newport's potential and says: "I'm not surprised at Newport's victory against Newcastle because I've seen tapes of them and they've got a very strong pack and are capable of playing excellent rugby."

A massive crowd is almost guaranteed at Rodney Parade on Saturday's after Newport's superb win at Newcastle last weekend.