With the initial matches of the latest Champions Cup in the books, we delve into the key revelations emerging from the games.
French dominance has been the narrative in the past few campaigns, with the previous five victors all calling home France's elite division. But, the initial stage included several convincing performances from emerging challengers.
Bordeaux Seem Ready to Defend Their Title
Current holders Bordeaux Begles were a class apart in the competition the previous campaign, dismantling Toulouse in the semi-final and afterwards Northampton in the grand finale.
Lying sixth in the French league, some have suggested about their chances of defending the feat this year. However, in their opener, Bordeaux issued a reminder that they are more than capable of securing back-to-back titles with a free-flowing win on the road in South Africa.
Handed a challenging fixture at Loftus Versfeld against a powerful Bulls side including stars like Willie le Roux, Handre Pollard, and Canan Moodie, they found themselves trailing 33-22 at half-time.
But, as champions do, they showed their quality in the second half, storming back to secure a 46-33 victory – keeping the Bulls scoreless after the break.
France international aces Damian Penaud and World Player of the Year nominee Louis Bielle-Biarrey each crossed the try-line. Any team with those two on the wings has a chance against any competition.
Formidable Bath Appear Equipped of Challenging for the Title
Bath's lone victory in Europe came almost 30 years ago. In the years since, they have probably never been more prepared to win it again.
The defending English Premiership champions are setting the pace domestically after six games and will be hoping to transfer that success into Europe – especially after a surprise group-stage exit last year.
Johann van Graan's side looked a very complete and composed outfit in their 40-14 defeat of Munster, who are among the leaders in the URC.
They blend creative spark – earning the try-scoring point in under 20 minutes at the Rec – with tough tackling, holding their visitors at arm's length when they attempted a late rally.
With the likes of Finn Russell and Ben Spencer directing play and a deep squad all over the team, they are surely serious contenders for a maiden Champions Cup since 1998.
Bath's pivotal moment in the group stage the previous year was in the second round, an heartbreaking 22-21 defeat at Benetton with a rotated team.
After winning a league trophy under their belt and leading in England once more, Van Graan could be inclined to put a heightened focus on the Champions Cup this season.
Glasgow Give Sale a Major Blow
You will find quality outfits everywhere you look, but Pool One appears poised to be one of the tightest.
In the tournament's current format, 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 turn out to be vital.
The team from Scotland were 14-0 down after 20 minutes but responded with character, and two tries early in the second half gave them a precious bonus-point win.
By achieving this, they gave their hopes of advancing a significant early boost and, by contrast, handed a significant setback to the Sharks.
With the French giants – dominant 56-19 winners against the Sharks – and Saracens, who brushed aside Clermont, also in the pool, we are likely to see plenty of fireworks.
And what of Glasgow's traditional foes Edinburgh? They produced one of their best European performances in recent memory to stun heavyweights Toulon 33-20, on a fine weekend for rugby in Scotland.
Is Ioane the Missing Ingredient of the Leinster Jigsaw?
When considering a contender you would expect to be there or thereabouts at the sharp end of the season in Europe, it would be multiple champions Leinster.
However in recent campaigns it has not worked out, as they have been favourites but not won the trophy. Runners-up three years in a row between 2022-24, they looked the team to beat the previous campaign after backing up a 62-0 rout of Harlequins in the last 16 with a 52-0 win over Glasgow in the last eight.
It was believed that New Zealand full-back Jordie Barrett would be the key player to secure the title, but they were caught out and experienced a surprise defeat to Northampton Saints in the semi.
This season they are bringing in another Kiwi, this time with Rieko Ioane, who registered a scoring pass on his first appearance 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 Appear Equipped to Compete
From the moment the SA franchises joined the Champions Cup in 2022-23, the deepest run achieved is the quarter-finals, and last year not a single one succeeded in getting out of the group stage, with often weakened teams selected.
Could this be the season that is different? The Stormers are leading the URC and kicked off their Champions Cup adventure with a 26-17 victory on the road at Bayonne on Friday.
The reactions after the game were positive too, with players and coaches talking about their ambition, and the likes of Springboks Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and Damian Willemse absent for the first match.
The Stormers seem the strongest candidate for a team from South Africa to progress far in the tournament, but do not rule out the Sharks and Bulls, who each suffered defeat this weekend but did meet formidable opponents respectively.
Saints and Pau Deliver a Thrilling Contest
There were multiple possibilities for best fixture, and the Northampton vs. Pau game was a leading candidate.
Pau have been enjoying a brilliant campaign, spearheaded by Argentine internationals Julian Montoya and Facundo Isa and former Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson.
They are currently runner-up in the French championship and the atmosphere was electric at the Stade du Hameau|their home ground|Pau's
