With the initial matches of the 2025-26 Champions Cup wrapped up, we explore the major talking points emerging from the games.
French dominance has ruled the roost in recent seasons, with the past five winners all hailing from France's top flight. However, the initial stage included multiple statement victories from emerging contenders.
Bordeaux Appear Primed to Retain Their Crown
Defending champions Bordeaux Begles were a class apart in this tournament a year ago, dismantling Toulouse in the last four and afterwards Northampton in the grand finale.
Lying sixth in the domestic standings, doubts have been raised about their capacity to retain the feat now. But, in round one, Bordeaux served notice that they are well-positioned of winning another trophy with a free-flowing win on the road in South Africa.
Given a challenging fixture at the Bulls' fortress against a powerful Bulls side featuring talents like Willie le Roux, Handre Pollard, and Canan Moodie, they went into the break down 33-22 at the break.
But, demonstrating their pedigree, they displayed their class in the final 40 minutes, fighting back to seal a 46-33 victory – shutting out the Bulls without a point after the halftime.
French try-scoring aces Damian Penaud and global award contender Louis Bielle-Biarrey were among the try-scorers. Any team with such firepower on the wings stands a good chance against any opponent.
Impressive Bath Appear Equipped of A Deep Run
Bath's sole success in Europe came almost 30 years ago. Throughout the ensuing period, they have arguably not been more strongly positioned to secure another title.
The current English champions are setting the pace at home after six games and will be aiming to carry that momentum into Europe – on the back of a shocking early departure in the last campaign.
Johann van Graan's men looked a extremely well-rounded and composed outfit in their 40-14 defeat of Munster, who are third in the Celtic league.
They blend creative spark – earning the bonus point inside 20 minutes at the Rec – with resolute defending, holding their opponents at bay when they threatened a late rally.
With stars such as Finn Russell and Ben Spencer pulling the strings and strength in depth across the squad, they must be viewed as serious contenders for a maiden Champions Cup since 1998.
Bath's defining match in the pools last season was in the second round, an narrow 22-21 loss at Benetton with a changed side.
Now with a league trophy to their name and setting the pace the home league, Van Graan might decide to concentrate more effort on the Champions Cup this year.
Glasgow Hand Sale a Tough Start
You will find powerful sides everywhere you look, but Pool One appears poised 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 the first day might just be pivotal.
The Glasgow Warriors were trailing by 14 points after 20 minutes but came back strongly, and two tries during the beginning of the second half gave them a precious five points.
With this result, they provided their prospects of qualification a major lift and, in turn, handed a hefty blow to Sale.
With Toulouse – dominant 56-19 victors over the Sharks – and Saracens, who brushed aside Clermont, sharing the group, we can expect high-stakes drama.
And as for Glasgow's Scottish counterparts Edinburgh? They delivered one of their finest displays in Europe in a long time to surprise heavyweights Toulon 33-20, on a excellent weekend for rugby in Scotland.
Will Ioane Be the Missing Ingredient of the Leinster Puzzle?
Should you pick one side you would fancy to be in the mix at the business end of the continental campaign, it would be European giants Leinster.
But in recent seasons it hasn't gone to plan, as they have been favourites but fallen short. Finalists three years in a row between 2022-24, they looked heavy favourites the previous campaign after following up a 62-0 thrashing of Harlequins in the round of 16 with a 52-0 win over Glasgow in the last eight.
It was thought that Kiwi international Jordie Barrett would be the key player to win the championship, but they were ambushed and experienced a shock loss to Northampton Saints in the last four.
This year they are testing another New Zealand import, this time with Rieko Ioane, who provided a scoring pass on his first appearance in Saturday's 45-28 victory against Harlequins.
Could Ioane be the player to secure European glory to Ireland for the first time since 2018?
Stormers Look Equipped to Compete
Since the South African sides entered the Champions Cup in 2022-23, the furthest any of their teams have got is the last eight, and the previous season not a single one managed to make it out of the group stage, with several rotated sides selected.
Could this be the season that is different? The Stormers are first in the URC and kicked off their European campaign with a 26-17 away win at Bayonne on the opening night.
The words from players and coaches were positive too, with players and coaches talking about their ambition, and the caliber of South African internationals Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and Damian Willemse absent for the round-one win.
The Stormers appear the most likely contender for a SA franchise to progress far in the competition, although write off the Sharks and Bulls, who were defeated this weekend but did play formidable opponents respectively.
Northampton and Pau Produce a Classic Encounter
There were a few contenders for best fixture, and the Northampton vs. Pau game was right up there.
Pau have been having a superb season, guided by Argentine internationals Julian Montoya and Facundo Isa and former Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson.
They are right now in second place in the French league and the crowd was raucous at the Stade du Hameau|their home ground|Pau's
