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Matt O'Connor: Leinster can learn from Ireland v England against Bath

Leinster head coach Matt O'Connor kept a close eye on Ireland's Six Nations win over England with...



Matt O'Connor: Leinster ca...
Rugby

Matt O'Connor: Leinster can learn from Ireland v England against Bath

Leinster head coach Matt O'Connor kept a close eye on Ireland's Six Nations win over England with a view to defeating Bath in his side's upcoming Champions Cup quarter-final.

O'Connor joined Off The Ball's Adrian Barry on the line, the night after his players battled back from 27-7 down at half-time to draw 34-34 with Glasgow Warriors.

He also spoke of his familiarity with England and Bath out-half George Ford.

"I had the pleasure of coaching Fordy for three years at Tigers so I know him pretty well. He's an incredibly composed young kid. I've got the utmost respect for him and we've got to be very, very good. I thought Ireland did a great job in managing his threat and shutting their axis of Ben Youngs, Ford and Joseph at the test match in the Aviva. If we can deliver some of those with Sean O'Brien in the mix and Jamie [Heaslip] and the class we'll have on the field, it will then be a pretty entertaining afternoon," he said.  

O'Connor also believes Leinster can learn lessons from the draw against Glasgow with the challenge to come. 

"They haven't been playing for Bath so it's been our only opportunity to have a look at their form and see what their strengths and weaknesses are. The guys like Ford, Joseph, Attwood and Watson are very, very good players. So if you throw a few seasoned campaigners into the mix that they've got in Hooper and Francois Louw, they're a good side and if we can bring a little bit of the intensity that we had in the second half and cut out a little bit of the inaccuracies from the first half from last night, then we give ourselves every chance."  

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