Following the conclusion of round one of the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup, here is our take on the key winners and losers from an England perspective.
Winners
Will Butt
He has somewhat fallen down the England pecking order since his last run-out for the ‘A’ team in February 2025, but there was a lot Steve Borthwick would have liked from him on Sunday.
It’s always a hard ask to play Toulouse’s backline, no matter if it’s their full-noise squad or a makeshift unit like it was at times this weekend, but Butt had them on toast across the 80 minutes and could have easily been man of the match in the process. Carried with real purpose and desire for Exeter through the midfield channels, often floating between the two channels to good effect, and dragged his team beyond the gainline every time as well.
Butt was right on course for a Test cap not too long ago and after that display in France, he could be back on that road.
George Hendy
Is it finally the time for George Hendy to win that elusive Test cap? He has flirted with the senior squad for a good while now, but this does seem to be the closest he has been to a proper call-up and a cap at that.
The Northampton Saints back just relished the opportunity he was given as their go-to attacking option against Cardiff, making things happen with pretty much every touch of the ball and grabbing himself a try in the process. He also came up with some nice efforts in defence, which would have also caught Borthwick’s eye.
England are potentially looking for a winger to emerge given some of the injury concerns in this department, and Hendy has done himself no harm at all.
Gloucester contingent
The Cherry and Whites could have easily taken the win against Bordeaux-Bègles, and England men Seb Atkinson and Arthur Clark were front and centre of their display.
Midfielder Atkinson simply continued his recent trajectory across the new season on Friday night, injecting himself into Gloucester’s attack wherever possible with his blend of playmaking and carrying, and playing a crucial role in unpicking the French giant’s defence across the 80 minutes.
For Clark, this felt like a real statement display as well. He simply chucked himself into the battle up front against a mighty Bordeaux pack, posting eight tackles, seven carries, a try and an assist for his troubles.
Crucially, this was another example of these two doing it on the biggest stage. There is no harder challenge in the EPCR competitions than Bordeaux, the back-to-back Champions Cup champions, but they were among the best performers on the pitch. That should leave Borthwick brimming.
Harlequins triple threat
A good weekend for Harlequins trio Marcus Smith, Cadan Murley and George Furbank as the Londoners secured a resounding win in their opening EPCR Challenge Cup game. This unit promised big things at the start of the season, but this felt like the true sign of just how effective they will be for Quins moving forward, after what was a difficult start to their domestic season.
It was like they were feeding off each other in attack, with one player’s flashes causing a wave that led to the other two having even greater moments, and their quality was ultimately the difference come full-time.
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All three have become mainstays in the extended England squad, but their display on Sunday against Vannes will go a long way to keeping them there for November.
In-form bolters
While Borthwick does seem to have a settled squad right now, there were some bolters that could turn his head from the weekend in the form of Arthur Green, George Barton and Will Trenholm. The trio have already had some nice flashes this season, but once again looked on the money in this weekend’s opening EPCR rounds.
Green backed up his strong effort from Bath’s league defeat against Northampton, as he put up a brave fight for his side against Montpellier; Barton was arguably the pick of the bunch for Gloucester in their draw against Bordeaux and it says a lot about Trenholm’s display that he came on in the 54th minute and was later named the official man of the match after two quick scores.
They certainly face strong competition for spots in the squad, but they are controlling the controllables with their performances and that could get them noticed.
Losers
Steve Borthwick
There are certainly things he would have been pleased with last weekend, not least the displays of the aforementioned players, but the EPCR action should also leave the England boss with serious questions too.
It was a pretty sobering weekend for the English sides across both competitions, with them posting just two wins, one draw and seven defeats across both competitions, and a number of his Test stars were involved along the way. With this coming amid the backdrop of some ridiculously high-scoring games in the English league, it paints a bad picture for the national team boss.