Now that the opening salvo of the latest Champions Cup in the books, we delve into the primary lessons stemming from the weekend's action.
French dominance has ruled the roost in the past few campaigns, with the last five champions all hailing from France's top flight. However, the initial stage featured multiple convincing performances from emerging rivals.
Bordeaux Look Set to Go Back-to-Back
Reigning title-holders Bordeaux Begles were a class apart in this tournament a year ago, dismantling Toulouse in the last four and afterwards Northampton in the final.
Positioned sixth in the Top 14, some have suggested about their chances of defending the feat now. However, in round one, Bordeaux served notice that they are well-positioned of achieving another trophy with a high-scoring triumph on foreign soil in South Africa.
Given a challenging fixture at the Bulls' fortress against a strong Bulls side featuring talents like Willie le Roux, Handre Pollard, and Canan Moodie, they went into the break down 33-22 at half-time.
But, true to their champion status, they unleashed their power in the second period, fighting back to seal a 46-33 victory – shutting out the Bulls scoreless after the break.
France international aces Damian Penaud and star wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey both got on the scoresheet. Any team with that pair on the wings stands a good chance against any opponent.
Impressive Bath Appear Equipped of Challenging for the Title
Bath's only triumph in this competition was almost 30 years ago. Throughout the ensuing period, they have arguably not been more strongly positioned to win it again.
The reigning domestic title-holders 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 shocking early departure last year.
Johann van Graan's men looked a extremely well-rounded and balanced unit in their 40-14 win over Munster, who are third in the United Rugby Championship.
They combine creative spark – sealing the try-scoring point inside 20 minutes at the Rec – with resolute defending, keeping their visitors at bay when they attempted a late rally.
With stars such as Finn Russell and Ben Spencer pulling the strings and a deep squad all over the roster, they must be viewed as serious contenders for a first European trophy since 1998.
Bath's pivotal moment in the pools the previous year was in the second round, an heartbreaking 22-21 defeat at Benetton with a changed side.
Having secured a Premiership title in their history and setting the pace in England once more, Van Graan might decide to concentrate more effort on the Champions Cup this year.
Glasgow Give Sale a Tough Start
You will find strong teams throughout the draw, but the first group looks set to be one of the most fiercely contested.
In the existing pool system, a lot is made about victories on your own turf, which is why Glasgow's triumph at an opponent's ground at Sale on the opening night might just prove crucial.
The Scottish side were two scores behind after 20 minutes but fought back impressively, and two tries at the start of the second half gave them a valuable five points.
With this result, they gave their chances of progressing a significant early boost and, by contrast, dealt a hefty blow to Sale.
With the red and blacks – dominant 56-19 conquerors of the Sharks – and Saracens, who comfortably defeated Clermont, sharing the group, we are likely to see plenty of fireworks.
And as for Glasgow's old rivals Edinburgh? They turned in one of their finest displays in Europe in a long time to stun heavyweights Toulon 33-20, on a successful weekend for the Scottish game.
Is Ioane the Missing Ingredient of the Leinster Quest?
Should you pick one side you would expect to be there or thereabouts at the later stages of the Champions Cup, it would be European giants Leinster.
However in the last few years it hasn't gone to plan, as they have shown great potential but not won the trophy. Beaten finalists three years in a row between 2022-24, they looked overwhelming favourites the previous campaign after backing up a 62-0 thrashing of Harlequins in the round of 16 with a 52-0 win over Glasgow in the quarter-final.
It was believed that Kiwi international Jordie Barrett would be the final piece to secure the title, but they were ambushed and experienced a surprise defeat to Northampton Saints in the semi-final.
This year they are bringing in another Kiwi, this time with Rieko Ioane, who registered a key pass on his debut in Saturday's 45-28 victory against Harlequins.
Will Ioane prove to bring the trophy back to Ireland for the first time since 2018?
Stormers Seem Prepared to Challenge
Ever since the teams from South Africa entered the Champions Cup in 2022-23, the best performance by any of them is the last eight, and last year not a single one managed to make it out of the pool phase, with often weakened teams selected.
Could this be the season that is different? The Stormers are top of the URC and kicked off their Champions Cup adventure with a 26-17 triumph in France at Bayonne on the opening night.
The post-match comments were promising too, with players and coaches talking about their ambition, and the players such as Springboks Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and Damian Willemse unavailable for the first match.
The Stormers seem the strongest candidate for a team from South Africa to go deep into the event, but write off the Sharks and Bulls, who both lost in their first games but did meet formidable opponents respectively.
Northampton and Pau Produce a Classic Encounter
There were several candidates for game of the weekend, and that clash was right up there.
Pau have been having a outstanding campaign, guided by Pumas Julian Montoya and Facundo Isa and ex-England half-back Dan Robson.
They are presently second in the French championship and the crowd was raucous at the Stade du Hameau|their home ground|Pau's
