With the opening salvo of the latest Champions Cup in the books, we delve into the key revelations stemming from the games.
French dominance has defined the competition in recent seasons, with the last five champions all calling home France's Top 14. Yet, the first weekend showcased multiple impressive wins from emerging challengers.
Bordeaux Look Set to Defend Their Title
Current holders Bordeaux Begles were utterly dominant in Europe a year ago, overpowering Toulouse in the semi-final and subsequently Northampton in the grand finale.
Lying sixth in the domestic standings, some have suggested about their chances of defending the accomplishment this year. However, in round one, Bordeaux served notice that they are more than capable of achieving consecutive championships with a points-laden win on the road in South Africa.
Faced with a difficult tie at Loftus Versfeld against a formidable Bulls side featuring stars like Willie le Roux, Handre Pollard, and Canan Moodie, they found themselves trailing 33-22 at the interval.
But, demonstrating their pedigree, they unleashed their power in the second half, storming back to seal a 46-33 victory – shutting out the Bulls scoreless after the halftime.
France international aces Damian Penaud and World Player of the Year nominee Louis Bielle-Biarrey both got on the scoresheet. Any team with those two on the edges has a chance against whoever they face.
Formidable Bath Look Capable of A Deep Run
Bath's only triumph in this competition was almost three decades ago. In the years since, they have perhaps not been more strongly positioned to win it again.
The defending English Premiership champions are top of the pile domestically after six games and will be looking to carry that momentum into the Champions Cup – on the back of a surprise group-stage exit in the last campaign.
Johann van Graan's team looked a highly composed and balanced unit in their 40-14 win over Munster, who are among the leaders in the URC.
They marry creative spark – sealing the try-scoring point inside 20 minutes at the Rec – with defensive steel, keeping their guests at bay when they attempted a late rally.
With stars such as Finn Russell and Ben Spencer pulling the strings and a deep squad throughout the squad, they have to be considered credible threats for a maiden Champions Cup since 1998.
Bath's key result in the initial phase the previous year came in the second round, an narrow 22-21 setback at Benetton with a squad players.
Having secured a Premiership title in their history and leading in England once more, Van Graan might decide to place greater emphasis on the Champions Cup now.
Glasgow Deal Sale a Tough Start
There are quality outfits everywhere you look, but their section appears poised to be one of the most fiercely contested.
In the competition's present structure, a lot is emphasized regarding victories on your own turf, which is why Glasgow's win on the road at Sale on Friday evening might just turn out to be vital.
The Glasgow Warriors were trailing by 14 points after 20 minutes but responded with character, and two tries during the beginning of the second period gave them a valuable five points.
By achieving this, they handed their prospects of qualification a significant early boost and, by contrast, dealt a significant setback to the Sharks.
With the red and blacks – dominant 56-19 winners against the Sharks – and Saracens, who easily overcame Clermont, in the same section, we can expect high-stakes drama.
And regarding Glasgow's Scottish counterparts Edinburgh? They turned in one of their top continental showings in years to shock three-time winners Toulon 33-20, on a excellent weekend for the Scottish game.
Will Ioane Be the Final Piece 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 four-time winners Leinster.
Yet in recent seasons it hasn't gone to plan, as they have shown great potential but delivered little. Runners-up three years in a row between 2022-24, they looked heavy favourites a year ago after following up a 62-0 mauling of Harlequins in the last 16 with a 52-0 destruction over Glasgow in the quarter-final.
It was hoped that All Black star Jordie Barrett would be the final piece to secure the title, but they were caught out and experienced a stunning upset to Northampton Saints in the semi-final.
Now they are trying the All Black experiment again, this time with Rieko Ioane, who claimed a try assist on his bow in Saturday's 45-28 success against Harlequins.
Is Ioane the man to bring the trophy back to Ireland for the first occasion since 2018?
Stormers Look Prepared to Challenge
From the moment the SA franchises became part of the Champions Cup in 2022-23, the best performance by any of them is the quarter-finals, and the previous season none of them managed to make it out of the group stage, with plenty of squads not at full strength fielded.
Could this be the season that changes? The Stormers are first in the URC and kicked off their Champions Cup adventure with a 26-17 triumph in France at Bayonne on Friday.
The post-match comments were encouraging too, with individuals involved expressing their aspirations, and the caliber of Springboks Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and Damian Willemse unavailable for the first match.
The Stormers look the strongest candidate for a SA franchise to have a long run in the tournament, although don't count out the Sharks and Bulls, who each suffered defeat this weekend but did play the French powerhouses respectively.
Northampton and Pau Serve Up a Classic Encounter
There were several candidates for match of the round, and this one 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 presently in second place in the Top 14 and the crowd was raucous at the Stade du Hameau|their home ground|Pau's
