Furbank confident Saints can avoid another cold streak

And the England full-back is ready to help his side turn things around when they welcome Munster to cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 1pm).

Saints have conceded more points than any other side in the Gallagher Premiership this season and they have lost their past two matches in that competition.

Their pain was amplified last Saturday as they suffered what boss Phil Dowson described as a 'sobering' and 'humbling' 46-12 Heineken Champions Cup opening night defeat at La Rochelle.

But Furbank is remaining positive and he is not thinking about the time a couple of years ago when his side suffered 12 defeats on the spin in all competitions.

"We don't think we're anywhere near where we were back when we lost 12 on the bounce," Furbank said.

"We're not that team and we don't believe we're going to go into any sort of run like that.

"The frustrating thing is that we're really close, we think, and it's those few little fix-ups that if we can put right and put in for 80 minutes, we'll come away with a result.

"Dows ultimately says that if we perform we'll win, but at the moment we're not performing to the level we need to be at, so that's the focus for us."

When Saints did endure that horror run under Chris Boyd a couple of years ago, the young players were forced to mature quickly.

And Furbank said: "Everyone learned from that period and came out better leaders and players from that.

"We've got a lot of lads my age and younger stepping up to those leadership roles and it's a continuous learning curve in doing that.

"I wouldn't say I'm a massive speaker but I'm happy stepping into that role when I need to, and there's a lot of lads in a similar situation which is a good thing to have."

Furbank has won six England caps to date and he will hope to propel himself into World Cup contention next year.

So how does he feel his season has gone so far?

"I've been enjoying my rugby," said the 26-year-old.

"I've always got little work-ons to improve, but the areas I focused on improving at the start of the season, I think I've done that.

"It's about consistency of performance and I want to keep helping the team - that's the main thing for me."

Consistency of performance is certainly something Saints have been lacking as a team this season.

But Furbank insists they will soon get it right, especially in defence, which has been an area of real concern.

"We're trying to work on a few fix-ups, the backs on that one-on-one tackling," he said.

"We need to keep improving in our system because we feel we've got a good system, but it's probably individual errors within that system that's leading to linebreaks and ultimately points.

"Also, our discipline has not been good enough. I don't know what our average penalties per game is, but I think we're pretty high so if you give away lots of penalties you lose territory and you're under pressure, which leads to more penalties."

So what are Saints doing to try to solve their defensive and disciplinary problems?

"It's about putting different aspects of your game under pressure in training, recognising when we're under pressure and being able to deal with that a little better," Furbank said.

"At the moment, we're coming under pressure and conceding too many penalties and points and a yellow card.

"It's about dealing with those situations better and then when we get into their 22, we need to come away with as many points as possible.

"Ultimately, the game is won in both those 22s so they are our fix-ups."

Saints know they will be have to be at their best if they are to beat Munster at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Sunday.

The Irish giants only narrowly lost 18-13 at home to Toulouse last Sunday.

And Furbank said: "They're a massive historical side in this competition and they played pretty well against a really good Toulouse side.

"They're going to bring a lot of physicality and they've got a lot of experienced internationals so it's going to be a tough game, but one we're incredibly excited for.

"It will be a good occasion on Sunday."