Tuesday 31 March 2015 16:32, UK
Bath coach Mike Ford is relishing the prospect of having his England stars back for Saturday's European Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster in Dublin.
Although George Ford, Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson and Dave Attwood will all be returning to the place where England's Six Nations campaign was derailed by a 19-9 defeat at Ireland's hands, Ford is confident the quartet will shrug off the disappointment and refocus quickly.
"George, Anthony, JJ (Joseph) and Dave, they have just been to the Aviva (Stadium) and they are telling us what it is going to be like," head coach Ford said.
"The learning and the experience of that is valuable for us in our team-talks and in terms of the way we want to play the game.
"In the long run, these players come back better experienced, and the fact they have done what they've done with England this season, they are going to play with courage. They are not going to have any fears of going back to the Aviva.
In the long run, these players come back better experienced, and the fact they have done what they've done with England this season, they are going to play with courage. They are not going to have any fears of going back to the Aviva.
"The boys were on fire out there in training today," he added. "You could just see the difference when a game like this is approaching.
"With all due respect to London Welsh (Bath's opponents last weekend) and the Premiership and stuff, when you get into the quarter-final of the Champions Cup against a brilliant team like Leinster - and potentially in front of a full house - you don't need much motivation.
"It was a good achievement to qualify (for the quarter-final), and when you come to weekends like this it makes it all worthwhile. We have gone out and done some pretty good things this season in Europe.
"I think two years ago we had a problem with the away games, but we have firmly put the away mentality to bed in terms of it doesn't matter where we play, we just go out and try to perform the best we can.
"We are playing against a brilliant team that has done very well in Europe over the past few years.
"I want us to be able to go and play our way. With the personnel we've got, and if we click, it could be a good day for us, but we are under no illusions that they are a very good side with some great players.
"I have seen some comments from Matt O'Connor (Leinster head coach) about the blueprint to beat Bath is what Ireland did to England.
"They are going to look to bottle up our scrum-half and get to George (Ford). Whether they will go as aerial as Ireland did, I don't think they will.
"The Leinster way is to come up with a new play, specifically for our defence, so it will be a good test for our principles defensively. We want to play the Bath way, which is a load of things, but unless we get our fundamentals in place, we are not going to win."
