Now that the opening salvo of the latest Champions Cup wrapped up, we examine the primary lessons highlighted by the games.
Gallic supremacy has ruled the roost in recent seasons, with the previous five victors all hailing from France's top flight. However, the initial stage featured multiple impressive wins from potential challengers.
Bordeaux Appear Primed to Retain Their Crown
Reigning title-holders Bordeaux Begles were imperious in this tournament a year ago, overpowering Toulouse in the last four and subsequently Northampton in the showpiece.
Lying sixth in the domestic standings, some have suggested about their ability to repeat the title this year. Yet, in their opener, Bordeaux served notice that they are well-positioned of achieving another trophy with a points-laden away victory in South Africa.
Given a difficult tie at the Bulls' fortress against a powerful Bulls side featuring internationals like Willie le Roux, Handre Pollard, and Canan Moodie, they were behind 33-22 at the break.
However, demonstrating their pedigree, they showed their quality in the second half, storming back to claim a 46-33 victory – holding the Bulls to zero after the break.
French try-scoring phenoms Damian Penaud and global award contender Louis Bielle-Biarrey both got on the scoresheet. Any team with that pair on the edges has a chance against any opponent.
Impressive Bath Look Capable of A Deep Run
Bath's sole success in the Champions Cup came almost a generation ago. In the years since, they have probably never been more strongly positioned to win it again.
The defending English Premiership champions are leading the way at home after six games and will be aiming to transfer that success into the Champions Cup – on the back of a surprise group-stage exit last year.
Johann van Graan's men looked a highly composed and balanced unit in their 40-14 win over Munster, who are highly placed in the Celtic league.
They combine attacking verve – earning the bonus point within 20 minutes at the Rec – with defensive steel, holding their guests at arm's length when they threatened a dramatic comeback.
With the likes of Finn Russell and Ben Spencer in the half-backs and quality reserves throughout the roster, they must be viewed as genuine challengers for a first European trophy since 1998.
Bath's key result in the pools a year ago came in the following week, an narrow 22-21 setback at Benetton with a rotated team.
Now with a league trophy in their history and setting the pace domestically again, Van Graan could be inclined to concentrate more effort on the Champions Cup this season.
Glasgow Hand Sale a Tough Start
The tournament contains strong teams in every pool, but the first group seems destined to be one of the most competitive.
In the competition's present structure, a lot is emphasized regarding securing home wins, which is why Glasgow's triumph at an opponent's ground at Sale on Friday evening might just be pivotal.
The Scottish side were 14-0 down after 20 minutes but responded with character, and two tries early in the second period gave them a valuable maximum haul.
With this result, they gave their chances of progressing a major lift and, in turn, inflicted a significant setback to the Sharks.
With the French giants – commanding 56-19 winners against the Sharks – and Saracens, who brushed aside Clermont, in the same section, we can expect high-stakes drama.
And regarding Glasgow's Scottish counterparts Edinburgh? They turned in one of their finest displays in Europe in years to stun three-time winners Toulon 33-20, on a fine weekend for the Scottish game.
Is Ioane the Missing Ingredient of the Leinster Quest?
If there's one team you would fancy to be challenging at the later stages of the Champions Cup, it would be multiple champions Leinster.
But in recent seasons it hasn't gone to plan, as they have shown great potential but not won the trophy. Finalists three years in a row between 2022-24, they looked heavy favourites the previous campaign after backing up a 62-0 mauling of Harlequins in the last 16 with a 52-0 demolition over Glasgow in the quarter-final.
It was hoped that Kiwi international Jordie Barrett would be the key player to secure the title, but they were surprised and endured a stunning upset to Northampton Saints in the semi.
This season they are trying the All Black experiment again, this time with Rieko Ioane, who registered a try assist on his bow in Saturday's 45-28 success against Harlequins.
Will Ioane prove to secure European glory to Ireland for the first time since 2018?
Stormers Seem Equipped to Compete
Ever since the teams from South Africa became part of the Champions Cup in 2022-23, the furthest any of their teams have got is the quarter-finals, and in the last campaign not a single one succeeded in getting out of the group stage, with several squads not at full strength fielded.
Will this be the campaign that changes? The Stormers are first in the URC and began their Champions Cup adventure with a 26-17 victory on the road at Bayonne on the opening night.
The post-match comments were promising too, with players and coaches speaking of their aspirations, and the players such as Springboks Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and Damian Willemse unavailable for the round-one win.
The Stormers appear the most likely contender for a SA franchise to progress far in the competition, yet write off the Sharks and Bulls, who each suffered defeat in their first games but did meet formidable opponents respectively.
The English and French Sides Serve Up a Thrilling Contest
There were several candidates for best fixture, and that clash was right up there.
Pau have been experiencing a outstanding campaign, spearheaded by stars Julian Montoya and Facundo Isa and former Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson.
They are right now runner-up in the French championship and the crowd was raucous at the Stade du Hameau|their home ground|Pau's
