Flanker Jamie Gibson believes few teams could have lived with Leicester Tigers in their first half against Ulster.
Three tries in 15 minutes put Tigers in a box-seat they never relinquished to get their Champions Cup campaign off to a winning start.
Now the team prepares for Saturday's trip to Llanelli Scarlets knowing an away win will take them into December's double-header with Toulon in very good shape.
The Welsh region began their campaign with a scrappy 28-18 defeat to Toulon on Sunday afternoon.
"The Champions Cup is a different level and everyone says so," said Gibson.
"It hits you when it happens and the intensity is that little bit more for the whole of the 80 minutes. The boys were out on their feet at the end.
"It was a good win, a great middle period when we scored three tries and we held on at the end.
"We took our chances when they came against a very good side.
"Any team would have struggled against us with the way we played in that first 40 minutes. We tackled hard and we took our chances.
"If you put away one of the best teams in Europe like that, you have got to be playing well."
Gibson had another stand-out performance in Tigers' back-row.
He was not only a major part of a Leicester line-out that dominated all night but the 24-year-old also enjoyed the rare success of blocking Paddy Jackson's second-half conversion.
He sprinted off the line following Franco van der Merwe's try and got his arm to Jackson's kick.
It was the first time he had done it in a game. "I don't practice blocked conversions but it was very satisfying," said Gibson.
"If the fly-half is a little bit slow on his feet, you can get there. I saw he wasn't quite concentrating and I thought I had a chance.
"We made a couple of mistakes which let them back into it and, although it was tight at the end, we were very pleased with it.
"We have had lots of criticism but we knew as a group we just haven't been performing.
"Now we have won against Harlequins and Ulster, two of the best teams in Europe. It's not the end of it – but this is a platform now for us to build on.
"We could have done better but, as things go, you have to win at home in Europe and we did. We lost to Ulster twice last season so it's a nice marker.
"We have a big week ahead of the Scarlets and, if we can go into Toulon with two wins, it will set us up nicely."
