Furbank so happy to be back in action for Saints ahead of tough Tigers test

Not only because he was so frustrated about missing the rest of the game, which was the final one in the Red Rose's Six Nations campaign, but because of the ramifications his injury would have on his return to Saints.

Furbank was desperate to be in full flight when he headed back to Northampton for a key run of clashes.

But instead, he was forced to sit on the sidelines for massive matches against Bristol Bears, Saracens and Munster.

He finally made his return as a replacement last weekend, coming off the bench to play at 12 in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final against Vodacom Bulls.

And at this week's media session, Furbank was clearly delighted to be back in action.

"It's just big game after big game at the moment,” he said.

"That was probably the most frustrating thing (about picking up the injury with England) because I wanted to hit the ground running after coming back to Saints, but I didn't have the opportunity to do that.

"I'm going to have to build again and hopefully get a bit more game time under my belt this weekend in a pretty big game."

Furbank added: "I'm now a bit more refreshed and raring to get going again.

"It was obviously a pretty frustrating end to the Six Nations but I had a decent bit of time to recover and get my calf back to where it needs to be so I'm feeling good again.

"It was an unbelievable experience, a great campaign to be part of with a really good group of lads.

"We felt like we really built throughout the Six Nations and we felt we left the tournament in a better place than where we started.

"It was a good team to be part of."

Furbank shot to prominence for England as he scored in games against Scotland and Ireland during the Six Nations, establishing himself as first-choice full-back.

"It was my first try for England up in Scotland so it was nice to cross the whitewash a couple of times in the tournament," he said.

"Obviously the Scotland game was a bit disappointing but that Ireland game (which England won) is something I'll remember for a long time."

Country action is now very much in the past though, with full focus on club matters.

And Furbank savoured being back in action for Saints last Saturday night.

"I came on at 12, which was throwing it back to school days but I enjoyed it," he said.

"I was running around a bit like a headless chicken and I felt like the more I chased the ball, the less I got involved.

"It was nice to be back part of the group again."

Saints are currently on a three-game winning streak, but that will be put to the test when Leicester Tigers come to town on Saturday.

That massive match is followed by more huge encounters as Saints face Harlequins at Twickenham before the Investec Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster at Croke Park on May 4.

And Furbank said: "It's not bad is it really?

"They're three massive games and even after that, they keep coming.Gloucester and Bath are probably going to be must-win games again and then you're in the real back end of the season where it becomes knockout rugby again.

"We're going to try to take one game at a time because if you look at all those big games at once, it becomes a bit overwhelming.

"It's a bit of a cliche but we'll try to take one game at a time and our big focus this week is on Leicester and putting the wrongs right from our defeat there.

"It's probably about who can execute their game plan on the day and we hope we can be that team.”