With the opening salvo of the 2025-26 Champions Cup in the books, we delve into the key revelations emerging from the weekend's action.
Top 14 superiority has defined the competition in the past few campaigns, with the previous five victors all hailing from France's Top 14. But, the first weekend included several statement victories from potential contenders.
Bordeaux Appear Primed to Retain Their Crown
Current holders Bordeaux Begles were utterly dominant in the competition last season, dominating Toulouse in the semi-final and then Northampton in the showpiece.
Currently sitting sixth in the domestic standings, doubts have been raised about their chances of defending the accomplishment this season. However, in the first round, Bordeaux served notice that they are fully equipped of securing back-to-back titles with a high-scoring away victory in South Africa.
Given a challenging fixture at Loftus Versfeld against a formidable Bulls side boasting internationals like Willie le Roux, Handre Pollard, and Canan Moodie, they found themselves trailing 33-22 at half-time.
Yet, demonstrating their pedigree, they showed their quality in the final 40 minutes, storming back to claim a 46-33 victory – shutting out the Bulls to zero after the interval.
French try-scoring aces Damian Penaud and World Player of the Year nominee Louis Bielle-Biarrey were among the try-scorers. Any team with such firepower on the wings stands a good chance against any competition.
Powerful Bath Look Capable of A Deep Run
Bath's sole success in this competition was almost a generation ago. Since that time, they have arguably not been better equipped to secure another title.
The reigning domestic title-holders are leading the way domestically after six games and will be hoping to translate that form into continental competition – particularly following a surprise group-stage exit the previous season.
Johann van Graan's team looked a highly composed and balanced unit in their 40-14 victory against Munster, who are highly placed in the United Rugby Championship.
They combine attacking verve – sealing the extra point in under 20 minutes at the Rec – with tough tackling, restraining their visitors at arm's length when they attempted a fightback.
With players including Finn Russell and Ben Spencer directing play and strength in depth across the squad, they must be viewed as credible threats for a continental title since 1998.
Bath's pivotal moment in the group stage the previous year was in the following week, an narrow 22-21 setback at Benetton with a changed side.
Now with a domestic championship in their history and top the home league, Van Graan could be inclined to place greater emphasis on the Champions Cup this season.
Glasgow Hand Sale a Tough Start
You will find quality outfits throughout the draw, but the first group appears poised to be one of the tightest.
In the competition's present structure, a lot is emphasized regarding securing home wins, which is why Glasgow's win on the road at Sale on the first day might just turn out to be vital.
The Scottish side were trailing by 14 points after 20 minutes but came back strongly, and two tries during the beginning of the second period gave them a valuable five points.
By achieving this, they provided their hopes of advancing a significant early boost and, in turn, handed a damaging defeat to their opponents.
With Toulouse – imperious 56-19 victors over the Sharks – and Saracens, who brushed aside Clermont, also in the pool, we can expect high-stakes drama.
And what of Glasgow's Scottish counterparts Edinburgh? They turned in one of their top continental showings in years to surprise three-time winners Toulon 33-20, on a excellent weekend for the Scottish game.
Could Ioane the Key Addition of the Leinster Puzzle?
If there's one team you would predict to be challenging at the business end of the continental campaign, it would be European giants Leinster.
However in recent campaigns it hasn't gone to plan, as they have been favourites but fallen short. Runners-up three years in a row between 2022-24, they looked overwhelming favourites the previous campaign after following up a 62-0 thrashing of Harlequins in the last 16 with a 52-0 demolition over Glasgow in the last eight.
It was thought that New Zealand full-back Jordie Barrett would be the missing ingredient to win the championship, but they were caught out and experienced a surprise defeat to Northampton Saints in the last four.
Now 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 victory against Harlequins.
Will Ioane prove to return the cup to Ireland for the first time since 2018?
Stormers Appear Prepared to Challenge
From the moment the SA franchises became part of the Champions Cup in 2022-23, the deepest run achieved is the quarter-finals, and in the last campaign not a single one succeeded in getting out of the group stage, with often weakened teams fielded.
Could this be the season that is different? The Stormers are first in the URC and kicked off their Champions Cup adventure with a 26-17 away win at Bayonne on Friday.
The reactions after the game were positive too, with the squad and staff speaking of their goals, and the players such as Springboks Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and Damian Willemse not involved for the round-one win.
The Stormers seem the most likely contender for a South African side to have a long run in the event, but don't count out the Sharks and Bulls, who each suffered defeat in their first games but did face Toulouse and Bordeaux respectively.
Saints and Pau Serve Up a Thrilling Contest
There were several candidates for best fixture, and that clash was right up there.
Pau have been having a superb campaign, spearheaded by stars Julian Montoya and Facundo Isa and former Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson.
They are right now second in the French league and the crowd was raucous at the Stade du Hameau|their home ground|Pau's
