Euro success would be fitting finale

“To be in the scenario that we are now, where I’m at in my career, any disappointments or any regrets that I’ve ever had in my career would probably just go out the window, because you couldn’t ask for better.

“I’m just thrilled that we get the opportunity to be in a final. If we can win it and I can be part of the first ever Exeter Chiefs squad that wins that, it would be a lovely way to go into retirement.”

Steenson highlighted his and Exeter’s remarkable journey from the second tier of English rugby to their first ever European Cup final, as well as recalling some of his earliest memories of European rugby as a young Ulster supporter.

“I remember when Ulster went down to Dublin,” he said. “I remember getting on a bus going down as a young kid. I was older then – I must have been 14 or 15 years old.

“I remember standing on the sidelines at the semi-final watching David Humphreys put a chip over the top and scoring in the corner – and that’s all I ever wanted to do.

“It was a special moment to watch that and that’s always been with us a little bit. Especially growing up in Ulster, it was always something you wanted to do – play in the Heineken Cup.

“Albeit did I ever see me doing that with Exeter Chiefs? To be honest, when I joined them in the Championship, it was very hard to envisage that.

“To be sitting now on the brink of it, it’s obviously very exciting. But at the end of the day we haven’t won anything yet. It would mean a heck of a lot more if we can get across the line and play well in the final.”