No mercy from Meehan

Former Stade assistant coach Meehan helped the French giants to two Top 14 titles and 2005 Heineken Cup final defeat to Toulouse during his four-year stint.

Now the Bath boss is eager to lock horns with the star-studded, Paris-based club at the Recreation Ground on Sunday.

Meehan said: "It's not just any old game for me. It's our first Heineken Cup match at home and it has an added significance given my previous role with Stade.

"It's something I've been looking forward to ever since the pools were announced. If you can't get excited about a game like this, then there's something wrong with you."

Bath got their Pool Four campaign off to the worst possible start with a 26-12 defeat to Ulster in Belfast.

But Meehan insists he is focussed on getting his men back to winning ways and get their season back on track.

Meehan added: "A win would certainly be a confident boost and Stade would be a big European scalp for us to take.

"We will have to be patient against Stade. They'll give up yards but you have to be physical and make sure you don't allow them to determine what goes on.

"We need to play with freedom and enjoyment to get back to our attractive best because that's the most important thing for us.

"If we can play like that, then we'll bring our big runners and our finishers into the game and we'll be a greater threat.

"The game has a very important bearing on the pool for us. Last year, we lost one and drew one and finished on top of our pool.

"To lose this one and to have any chance of making the top eight, we'd have to play extremely well in our following four matches and win them all with some bonus points.

"And we'd also have to rely on other results."