Now that the first round of the latest Champions Cup in the books, we explore the primary lessons highlighted by the fixtures.
Top 14 superiority has ruled the roost in recent seasons, with the past five winners all representing France's top flight. But, the initial stage showcased a number of convincing performances from emerging contenders.
Bordeaux Look Set to Go Back-to-Back
Defending champions Bordeaux Begles were imperious in this tournament the previous campaign, dismantling Toulouse in the last four and subsequently Northampton in the grand finale.
Lying sixth in the Top 14, questions have been asked about their ability to repeat the feat this year. Yet, in round one, Bordeaux issued a reminder that they are fully equipped of securing back-to-back titles with a points-laden away victory in South Africa.
Faced with a tough assignment at Loftus Versfeld against a powerful Bulls side featuring internationals like Willie le Roux, Handre Pollard, and Canan Moodie, they found themselves trailing 33-22 at the interval.
But, as champions do, they showed their quality in the second period, fighting back to seal a 46-33 victory – keeping the Bulls to zero after the halftime.
Les Bleus stars phenoms Damian Penaud and World Player of the Year nominee Louis Bielle-Biarrey each crossed the try-line. Any team with that pair on the wings stands a good chance against whoever they face.
Powerful Bath Seem Poised of Going the Distance
Bath's sole success in the Champions Cup was almost 30 years ago. Since that time, they have perhaps not been more strongly positioned to win it again.
The current English champions are top of the pile in the league after six games and will be looking to translate that form into continental competition – especially after a unexpected elimination in the last campaign.
Johann van Graan's side looked a extremely well-rounded and polished team in their 40-14 defeat of Munster, who are third in the URC.
They blend attacking verve – securing the extra point in under 20 minutes at the Rec – with resolute defending, restraining their guests at a distance when they looked like mounting a dramatic comeback.
With the likes of Finn Russell and Ben Spencer pulling the strings and quality reserves across the team, they must be viewed as credible threats for a first European trophy since 1998.
Bath's pivotal moment in the pools the previous year came in the following week, an heartbreaking 22-21 loss at Benetton with a changed side.
After winning a league trophy to their name and top in England once more, Van Graan may feel able to concentrate more effort on the Champions Cup now.
Glasgow Deal Sale a Tough Start
The tournament contains powerful sides in every pool, but the first group looks set to be one of the most fiercely contested.
In the tournament's current format, a lot is emphasized regarding winning your home games, which is why Glasgow's away victory at Sale on the opening night might just turn out to be vital.
The team from Scotland were two scores behind after 20 minutes but responded with character, and two tries early in the second period gave them a precious bonus-point win.
With this result, they handed their prospects of qualification a significant early boost and, by contrast, handed a damaging defeat to their opponents.
With the French giants – imperious 56-19 victors over the Sharks – and Saracens, who brushed aside Clermont, also in the pool, we can expect many thrilling contests.
And as for Glasgow's old rivals Edinburgh? They delivered one of their finest displays in Europe in recent memory to shock heavyweights Toulon 33-20, on a successful weekend for Scottish rugby.
Is Ioane the Final Piece of the Leinster Puzzle?
If there's one team you would expect to be in the mix at the later stages of the continental campaign, it would be four-time winners Leinster.
Yet in recent campaigns it has not worked out, as they have shown great potential but delivered little. Runners-up three years in a row between 2022-24, they looked the team to beat the previous campaign after building on a 62-0 thrashing of Harlequins in the round of 16 with a 52-0 win over Glasgow in the quarter-final.
It was hoped that New Zealand full-back Jordie Barrett would be the missing ingredient to secure the title, but they were caught out and experienced a shock loss to Northampton Saints in the last four.
Now they are trying the All Black experiment again, this time with Rieko Ioane, who registered a scoring pass on his first appearance in Saturday's 45-28 win over Harlequins.
Will Ioane prove to return the cup to Ireland for the first time since 2018?
Stormers Appear Ready to Step Up
Since the South African sides joined the Champions Cup in 2022-23, the best performance by any of them is the last eight, and in the last campaign none of them managed to make it out of the group stage, with plenty of rotated sides selected.
Will this be the campaign that is different? The Stormers are first in the URC and began their continental journey with a 26-17 triumph in France at Bayonne on the opening night.
The reactions after the game were encouraging too, with players and coaches talking about their goals, and the caliber of stars Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and Damian Willemse not involved for the first match.
The Stormers appear the most likely contender for a team from South Africa to go deep into the tournament, yet write off the Sharks and Bulls, who both lost in the opening round but did meet formidable opponents respectively.
Northampton and Pau Deliver a Thrilling Contest
There were multiple possibilities for game of the weekend, and that clash was a leading candidate.
Pau have been having a outstanding season, guided by stars Julian Montoya and Facundo Isa and ex-England half-back Dan Robson.
They are presently runner-up in the Top 14 and the stadium was buzzing at the Stade du Hameau|their home ground|Pau's
