The Investec Champions Cup campaign is underway with an intriguing opening round of action whetting the appetite for the season ahead.
This one-off weekend of fixtures serves only as an hors d’ouevres with the competition not resuming until after the Nations Championship in November, and the eight English clubs will have plenty to do when it picks up again.
While Gloucester secured an excellent draw against defending champions Bordeaux-Begles, only Northampton were successful in their opening outing of the Prem contingent as the United Rugby Championship and Top 14 sides showed their strength.
Here are five things we learned:
Problems for the Prem?
So much for the Prem being a league on the up with a clutch of sides ready to challenge for the first time in a while. Even in victory, Northampton were not at their best against Cardiff in the wet, with the English performance of the round undoubtedly that of Gloucester at a bouncing Kingsholm on Friday evening.
For the rest, it was a familiar European story: Bristol can at least argue that they rotated in places for a long trip to Cape Town but a fully-loaded Saracens were well beaten at Connacht; Bath, meanwhile, were hugely disappointing, with Joe Cokanasiga’s shelling of a certain score a lowlight of a profligate performance against Montpellier. All that after Johann van Graan had spoken of the need to get out the blocks fast and win your home games in this “sprint” of a competition…
Sale – playing in tough circumstances – and Leicester at the very least began brightly against Glasgow and Pau respectively, but English clubs were beaten at the breakdown and set-piece too often. Work to be done.
The big boys can be beaten
Due credit must be extended to Exeter, who performed well in Toulouse yet will rue a huge missed opportunity after Rodrigue Neti’s permanent first-half red card for an ugly high tackle. It is just so hard, though, to bottle up a team with the talent that Toulouse possess – Theo Ntamack has really come on this season at No 8 and was a menace throughout.
There was a certain symmetry to their game and that of fellow Top 14 big boys Bordeaux Begles, right down to each having to deploy tighthead props in Joel Merkler and Ben Tameifuna in the second row due to lock injuries. Toulouse were grateful for Merkler’s presence after Neti’s early sending off; the Tameifuna gamble was less effective, one would say, with Gloucester producing another early-season statement performance. What both they and Exeter illustrated, though, is that if one can marry ambition, accuracy and a physical edge, the tournament’s big two can be beaten – as plenty have shown in the past.
Glasgow and Connacht impress
Two vibrant attacking showings from two of the best-drilled teams in the URC helped Glasgow and Connacht dismantle Sale and Saracens, each surging clear in the final half-hour with some lovely variety and venom in phase play. Sione Tuipulotu, as ever, was the fulcrum for the Warriors, showing off his deft distributing hands with 19 passes to go along with his ability as a forthright carrier, while Jamie Dobie, Kyle Steyn and Kyle Rowe combined very nicely as a roaming back three. A word, too, for No 8 Ruwald van der Merwe, who looks a good pick-up as a replacement for Jack Dempsey.
Connacht, meanwhile, have done excellent work in recruiting their 10/15 axis over the last two summers, with Ciaran Frawley settling nicely in Galway and former Otago full-back Sam Gilbert the sort of unheralded addition that makes a real difference. With Josh Ioane complementing them, Stuart Lancaster has plenty to play with – and might just have enjoyed the playmaking performance of son Dan for Glasgow, too. It looked a tough draw but it’s a strong start for Lancaster’s side.
South African sides bare teeth
Is this the year that a South African side goes properly deep in this competition? There is plenty of reason, still, to be doubtful but there was also plenty to like about the way the Bulls and Stormers went about their business in dispatching Stade Francais and Bristol. Mind you, the very fact that each of the opposition sent weakened, youthful sides shows the challenge that having them in the Champions Cup poses – and it would be little surprise if, having banked five points, they reply to the logistical challenges in kind come away fixtures later in the pool-stage campaign. Still, it would be nice to see a South African team reach the semi-finals for variety’s sake alone.
A challenging weekend
All of that said, much of the rugby paled into insignificance after the news of the sudden death of Hyron Andrews on Friday. One can hardly imagine what it took for his Lions squadmates to run out at La Rochelle so soon after his passing, and one can only hope that it was totally their call to do so as a tribute to their teammate. Credit to his former Sale Sharks coach Alex Sanderson and to Billy Vunipola, who each spoke powerfully to Premier Sports of Andrews on a weekend of such unfortunate circumstances.
The desperate news came a decade on from the death of Anthony Foley in Paris, and Munster paid fitting respect to his memory with a win over Racing 92 on Saturday night. For Brian Gleeson – playing No 8 but wearing No 24 – to score the opener felt right.