Hines and his team mates have an uphill battle in the Heineken Cup this weekend with key players Brian O’Driscoll, Luke Fitzgerald and Rob Kearney all missing.

And Hines said: “It was tough rugby when I was in France and I’m sure it’ll be the same again against Clermont.

“I learned pretty quickly that it’s tough every week and every team has a good forward pack.

“We’ve got to make sure our defence is watertight because they’ve got some very good attackers and if we don’t spot their physical onslaught in the forwards, it’s going to make it very difficult.

“If we go out and play the way we can we’re going to be in with a good shout of winning. We’ve just got to put ourselves in that position.”