Virtually all the heavy hitters from the Top 14, from Clermont to Stade Francais, from Toulon to Racing, have been there and not done it, each and every one leaving with nothing to show for their trouble.
Somehow Toulouse avoided having to make the same journey since the dawn of European competition in 1995 but not for much longer. Thomond Park looms large on the horizon and will loom ever larger in the coming weeks because Thierry Dusautoir & co failed to score more than a solitary try against the gallant Zebre when four would have guaranteed them a home quarter-final.
Instead they face a punishing trip and Noves has had more than his share of those in other parts of Ireland, north and south, east and now west. His one appearance there for France, on the left wing at the old Lansdowne Road, set the tone way back in 1979.
Three penalties from a Munster player, Tony Ward, forced Noves to settle for a draw on what turned out to be his penultimate international. His European misadventures in Ireland go back to the last year of the 20th century, to a losing quarter-final against Ulster at Ravenhill.
He began falling foul of Munster the following season, despite home advantage. Mick Galwey's team famously took the Chaban Delmas stadium by storm, six goals from Ronan O'Gara plus a try for good measure in addition to those from Jason Holland and John Hayes turned Bordeaux red as it had never been turned red before.
Noves may have avenged that defeat by winning another semi-final against Munster, in Toulouse in 2003 en route to beating Perpignan in the Dublin final , but he lost the Munster one that mattered most of all - the 2008 final in Cardiff.
By then Noves had been bruised by brushes with other provincial Irish opposition. When Munster first conquered Europe, in 2006, Toulouse could do nothing more than watch from the other side of the Channel and rue their traumatic quarter-final at the hands of Leinster.
As a sign of what was about to come, Toulouse were given the run-around in their own backyard, overwhelmed by four Leinster tries (Brian O'Driscoll, Shane Horgan, Denis Hickie, Cameron Jowitt) and eight goals from Felipe Contepomi.
The following season Toulouse suffered an even worse beating, to the tune of 30-3, when they ventured north of the Irish border to the scene of their knock-out almost a decade earlier.
Ulster outplayed their celebrated opponents so completely that it was all over by half-time. Andrew Trimble took all of two minutes to deliver the first of his two tries and another from Isaac Boss left Toulouse on the ropes, 24 points adrift. That they restricted any further damage thereafter to one David Humphreys penalty said everything about their predicament.
And who was running the show that night as Ulster's head coach? Why, none other than Mark McCall from Bangor, Co Down, the same Mark McCall who will be back at his old stamping ground on the first weekend of April in charge of Saracens.
It can be stated without fear of contradiction that Ulster have not forgotten what England's most innovative club did to them at the same stage of the tournament last year, a 27-16 home win before almost 40,000 at Twickenham.
Ulster, dismayed at a collective failure to do themselves justice on that occasion, will be galvanised into settling the score before the new fully expanded Ravenhill in all its 18,000-capacity glory. As Humphreys, now the province's director of rugby, put it: 'Now we have an opportunity to lay those ghosts to rest.'
Over the last ten seasons, more teams from the RaboDirect PRO12 have qualified for the last eight of the European Cup than from the other two major Leagues in England and France.
European Cup quarter-final qualifiers since 2004:
RaboDirect PRO12:
Munster 9, Leinster 8, Ulster 4, Ospreys 3, Cardiff Blues 3, Scarlets 1, Edinburgh 1. Total: 29
French Top 14:
Toulouse 9, Biarritz Olympique 5, Clermont Auvergne 4, Stade Francais 3, Perpignan 3, Toulon 2, Montpellier 1. Total: 27.
Aviva Premiership:
Leicester Tigers 7, Northampton Saints 4, Saracens 4, Bath 2, Harlequins 2, London Irish 1, Gloucester 1, Wasps 1, Sale Sharks 1, Newcastle Falcons 1. Total: 24.
Munster v Toulouse, previous knock-out ties:
2008 Final at Cardiff:
Munster 16, Toulouse 13.
Munster: D Hurley; D Howlett, R Tipoki, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O'Gara, T O'Leary; M Horan (Buckley 64-74), J Flannery, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, capt (M O'Driscoll 57-60).; A Quinlan, D Wallace, D Leamy.
Try-Leamy. Con-O'Gara. Pens-O'Gara 3.
Toulouse: C Heymans; M Medard, M Kunavore, Y Jauzion, Y Donguy; J-B Elissalde, B Kelleher; D Human, W Servat, S Perugini (J_B Poux 55); F Pelous, capt., P Albacete (R Milo-Chluski 60); J Bouilhou (G Lamboley 61), T Dusautoir (Y Nyanga 39), S Sowerby.
Try- Donguy. Con-Elissalde. Pen-Elissalde. Drop-Elissalde.
2003 Semi-final at Toulouse:
Toulouse 13, Munster 12.
Toulouse: C Poitrenaud; E Ntamack (Heymans 57), X Garbajosa, Y Jauzion, V Clerc; Y Delaigue (Elissalde 53), F Michalak; P Collazo (Lecouls 62), Y Bru (Servat 71), J-B Poux; D Gerard (Lamboley 80), F Pelous, capt; T Brennan, J Bouilhou, C Labit (Maka 80).
Try-Michalak. Con- J-B Elissalde. Pens-Delaigue, Elissalde.
Munster: J Staunton; J Kelly, M Mullins, R Henderson (Holland 80), A Horgan; R O'Gara, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell; J Williams, capt., A Quinlan, B Foley.
2000 Semi-final at Bordeaux:
Munster 31, Toulouse 25.
Munster: D Crotty; J Kelly, M Mullins, J Holland, A Horgan; R O'Gara, P Stringer; P Clohessy, K Wood, J Hayes; M Galwey, capt., J Langford; E Halvey, D Wallace, A Foley.
Tries-Holland, O'Gara, Hayes. Cons-O'Gara 2. Pens-O'Gara 4.
Toulouse: S Ougier; E Ntamack, C Desbrosse, L Stensness, M Marfaing; A Penaud, J Cazalbou; C Califano, Y Bru, F Tournaire; F Pelous, capt., F Belot; D Lacroix, C Labit, S Dispagne.
Try-Cazalbou. Con-Marfaing. Pens-Marfaing 5, Ougier.
Toulon and Leinster will be meeting in the knock-out stage for the first time, likewise Clermont and Leicester Tigers.
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