Now that the opening salvo of the 2025-26 Champions Cup concluded, we delve into the major talking points emerging from the fixtures.
Gallic supremacy has defined the competition in the past few campaigns, with the previous five victors all calling home France's top flight. However, the opening round showcased several impressive wins from emerging challengers.
Bordeaux Look Set to Retain Their Crown
Current holders Bordeaux Begles were utterly dominant in Europe last season, dismantling Toulouse in the last four and afterwards Northampton in the showpiece.
Positioned sixth in the French league, questions have been asked about their capacity to retain the feat this year. But, in round one, Bordeaux issued a reminder that they are well-positioned of securing consecutive championships with a high-scoring win on the road in South Africa.
Handed a difficult tie at a hostile venue against a powerful Bulls side including talents like Willie le Roux, Handre Pollard, and Canan Moodie, they went into the break down 33-22 at the interval.
However, demonstrating their pedigree, they displayed their class in the second period, storming back to secure a 46-33 victory – shutting out the Bulls scoreless after the interval.
Les Bleus stars aces Damian Penaud and World Player of the Year nominee Louis Bielle-Biarrey were among the try-scorers. Any team with those two on the wings is a threat against any opponent.
Impressive Bath Seem Poised of Challenging for the Title
Bath's lone victory in Europe came almost three decades ago. In the years since, they have perhaps not been more prepared to add a second star.
The current English champions are leading the way in the league after six games and will be hoping to carry that momentum into Europe – on the back of a shocking early departure the previous season.
Johann van Graan's side looked a extremely well-rounded and polished team in their 40-14 defeat of Munster, who are highly placed in the URC.
They blend attacking verve – sealing the try-scoring point within 20 minutes at the Rec – with defensive steel, keeping their opponents at bay when they threatened a fightback.
With the likes of Finn Russell and Ben Spencer pulling the strings and strength in depth across the squad, they are surely serious contenders for a maiden Champions Cup since 1998.
Bath's pivotal moment in the pools the previous year was in the next fixture, an narrow 22-21 defeat at Benetton with a squad players.
Now with a Premiership title in their history and setting the pace in England once more, Van Graan could be inclined to concentrate more effort on the Champions Cup now.
Glasgow Give Sale a Significant Setback
You will find strong teams everywhere you look, but their section looks set to be one of the tightest.
In the existing pool system, a lot is made about victories on your own turf, which is why Glasgow's win on the road at Sale on the first day might just prove crucial.
The Scottish side were trailing by 14 points after 20 minutes but came back strongly, and two tries early in the second period gave them a precious five points.
In doing so, they provided their hopes of advancing a significant early boost and, in turn, inflicted a hefty blow to Sale.
With the red and blacks – dominant 56-19 winners against the Sharks – and Saracens, who brushed aside Clermont, sharing the group, we are likely to see high-stakes drama.
And regarding Glasgow's old rivals Edinburgh? They delivered one of their top continental showings in years to surprise former champions Toulon 33-20, on a excellent weekend for rugby in Scotland.
Could Ioane the Final Piece of the Leinster Puzzle?
If there's one team you would expect to be challenging at the business end of the Champions Cup, it would be European giants Leinster.
However in recent campaigns it hasn't gone to plan, as they have promised much but delivered little. Runners-up three years in a row between 2022-24, they looked heavy favourites a year ago after backing up a 62-0 thrashing of Harlequins in the round of 16 with a 52-0 win over Glasgow in the quarter-final.
It was thought that All Black star Jordie Barrett would be the missing ingredient to win the championship, but they were caught out and experienced a stunning upset to Northampton Saints in the semi.
This season they are testing another New Zealand import, this time with Rieko Ioane, who provided a key pass on his debut in Saturday's 45-28 success against Harlequins.
Will Ioane prove to secure European glory to Ireland for the first time since 2018?
Stormers Appear Equipped to Compete
Since the South African sides entered the Champions Cup in 2022-23, the deepest run achieved is the quarter-finals, and the previous season none of them managed to make it out of the group stage, with often weakened teams selected.
Is this the year that turns around? The Stormers are leading the URC and kicked off their Champions Cup adventure with a 26-17 away win at Bayonne on Friday.
The post-match comments were positive too, with the squad and staff talking about their ambition, and the players such as stars Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and Damian Willemse not involved for the round-one win.
The Stormers appear the strongest candidate for a SA franchise to have a long run in the event, but write off the Sharks and Bulls, who were defeated in the opening round but did meet Toulouse and Bordeaux respectively.
The English and French Sides Produce a Memorable Match
There were several candidates for game of the weekend, and the Northampton vs. Pau game was among the best.
Pau have been experiencing a superb campaign, spearheaded by Argentine internationals Julian Montoya and Facundo Isa and former Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson.
They are currently in second place in the Top 14 and the stadium was buzzing at the Stade du Hameau|their home ground|Pau's
