George Ford ready to put the boot into Leinster, warns Matt Banahan

Matt Banahan insists there will be no mental hangover for Bath’s England quartet as they return to the Aviva Stadium five weeks after their Grand Slam hopes went up in smoke.

Also, the giant wing has warned Leinster they will find it very difficult to match Ireland’s ability to keep fly-half George Ford quiet when they face Bath in Saturday’s Champions Cup quarter-final.

Ford, Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson and Dave Attwood all started in England’s 19-9 defeat to Ireland on March 1, with Ford coming off distinctly second best to Johnny Sexton.

Ford recovered to enjoy a superb end to the tournament, as England lost out to Ireland by just six scored points on a dramatic final day, and Banahan is convinced he is already a contender to be one of the best 10 best players in the world and will go on to hit new heights.

Therefore it is hardly surprising Jordi Murphy claimed earlier this week that Leinster will look to target the 22-year-old, a task Banahan has warned is far from simple.

However, Bath will certainly need Ford to be at his best if they are to reach their first European Cup semi-final since 2009, and Banahan is convinced the presence of those England players and their knowledge of playing in front of a hostile Aviva crowd could make a vital difference this weekend.

“The fact that the boys in the prime positions to control the game played there a few weeks ago is going to be a massive benefit for us,” said Banahan. “Those boys who came back from the England team have not only shown they are good at international level, but they were in fact some of the most in-form players in the Six Nations. If they can keep up that form, it will certainly be a good weekend for us.

“They were taken out of their comfort zones, but the way they normally play the game in club rugby — attacking — is the same way they turned up and played at international level. That’s why they played so well.

“Is George an easy man to shut down? No. He’s got so much talent, and has every string to his bow. He understands how to play the games, and can see and feel when people are coming at him. To have that skill and knowledge at such a young age is only going to benefit him in his career. I am sure that if he’s not in the 10 best players in the world, then he will become one of the very best. He will go on to achieve massive things.”

Despite the presence of that English quartet, Banahan knows his side will be underdogs in Dublin. Yet, they do not have to look back too far for knowledge of how to upset a European superpower on home territory to progress in the competition. Bath went to Toulouse in Round Five of the Pool Stages needing a win to maintain their hopes of making the knockout stages after losing their opening two games. They did so in quite wonderful style, claiming a thrilling 35-18 victory that set them on course for the last eight. That match — and the sensational running rugby that underpinned it — is sure to be mentioned more than once in the build-up to this weekend.

“That game in Toulouse is the sort of standard we try to set ourselves each week,” says England international Banahan. “That was a good game to show that how we want to play works against the top teams, but each team defends differently and now we go to Leinster. Being in the quarter or semi-finals of a European Cup is nothing new to them.

“They know how to play these games, but we have to go there, play our game and take it to them. But thinking like that — that you can win every competition you are in — is how you have to think. With the quality we have in our forwards, as well as our backs, we think we can compete with any team in Europe, and we believed we showed that by getting out of our group after losing the first two games.”