All roads lead to Bilboa where this season’s Investec Champions Cup and EPRC Challenge Cup winners will be crowned at the Estadio San Mames next May.
Before then teams need to negotiate four pool matches and three knockout rounds to reach the final to succeed Bordeaux-Begles as holders next May.
There is a lot of rugby before we reach that stage though, and as the 30th anniversary tournament gets underway, ATR looks at what fans should be looking out for on opening weekend.
Trouble At The Top
Bordeaux-Begles may have joined the elite with their maiden Champions Cup back in Cardiff in May, but they have yet to hit their stride yet this season. Currently they sit in sixth in the Top 14, just inside the playoff places with six wins and five defeats. The most recent was on the road to Montpellier, a week after a home defeat to Pau, and lets not talk about the 56 points they shipped to Toulouse in round six.
They still have a potent attack. That should be expected of a team with Damien Penaud and Louis Bielle-Biarrey on their wings and Mathieu Jalibert conducting play from flyhalf, and they have scored an average of just over 30 points per match in the Top 14.
However, the attack seems to be doing much of the heavy lifting with the defence leaking an average of more than 27 points per match. Has the loss of Guido Petti to Harlequins reduced their power? Or has Yoram Moefana’s absence in the midfield been missed more than anyone could have imagined?
Whatever, it is they will need to shrug off their worries, because the Bulls in Pretoria will show no sympathy.
League Champions Ready To Fire
Toulouse, the current Top 14 champions are looking rampant, and in the mood to add another triumph to their record six victories. They are first in the Top 14, have put last year’s Champions Cup winners in their place, and in Tom Willis have the best player in the league. The Sharks at home will be a physical test, but on current form they should have far too much for the South Africans.
Bath, their fellow champions (and reigning Challenge Cup holders) across the channel are enjoying similar form in Gallagher PREM Rugby. They are back top, with five wins and one defeat, have been reinforced over the summer by the likes of Santiago Carreras and Chris Harris, have Max Ojomoh straining at the leash, so a home clash against Munster will be a solid test of their credentials.
It isn’t quite three from three of the major European league champions, with Leinster struggling, just after they ended their four-year wait for a trophy by winning the United Rugby Championship (URC). The Dubliners are sixth with three wins and three defeats, and while they have a seemingly straightforward assignment at home to Harlequins, their semifinal defeat last season at the Aviva Stadium to Northampton Saints should rule out any sense of complacency.
Francais Surprise?
Every few years there is a French team that breaks through the pack to join the leading sides. Whether by design or a wealthy backer, they rise up, make their mark, and then slip back into the pack with little fanfare.
La Rochelle and Toulon did it in some style by actually coming from stage left to win the Champions Cup. Then there were Clermont Auvergne and Racing 92 who reached multiple finals, without joining the greats. Now, the eye is drawn to Aviron Bayonnais and Section Paloise (or Pau for simplicity’s sake) who are both at home, to the Stormers and Northampton Saints, respectively.
Basque side Bayonne have taken over from Biarritz as the region’s leading team and have slowly grown in stature. Flyhalf Joris Segonds has a growing reputation and started France’s first two tests in New Zealand, flanker Alexandre Fischer is reinvigorated after his move from Clermont, and Manu Tuilagi is a man reborn.
Over in Pau, they are really having their moment, with only bonus points leaving them second behind Toulouse. Joe Smimonds is out injured, but Saracens fans will be interested to see how Joel Kpoku has progressed since he left north London, ditto Julian Montoya after departing Leicester Tigers, while flanker Loïc Crédoz gave the everyone a boost by extending his contract this week.
Watch out too for Theo Attissogbe, who is a threat from fullback or wing, just as England A discovered at Allianz Stadium in June.
Can South Africa Challenge?
The Stormers will face Bayonne in good form, with the Capetonians topping the URC table, and coach John Dobson able to welcome back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu after a rampant November campaign in which he firmly claimed the South Africa number 10 jersey. Hopefully, Dobson told him to head to southwest France, put his feet up for a few days until the rest of the team arrived and then just do what he does.
The Blue Bulls have blown hot and cold so far, with three wins and three defeats. They might be facing reigning champions Bordeaux-Begles, but they will want to avoid the same slip-up at home they made when losing to Northampton Saints last season. Lose, and that is likely to be that for the Bulls in this season’s competition.
The Sharks know what it takes to win in Europe, having claimed the Challenge Cup in 2024. However, Toulouse away and with their Springboks either unavailable or exhausted from their six October and November internationals, means Sharks fans may need to wait for round two for their first win this season.
Challenge Cup – Three To Watch
Exeter Chiefs, Champions Cup winners in 2020, have played like a team reborn this season, after the slump that left them in 11th place last season. Now, with Rob Baxter back at the helm they are enjoying life in the PREM where they sit in second place with the likes of Henry Slade and Daffyd Jenkins reinvigorated, and Stephen Varney and Harvey Skinner developing a very impressive halfback combination. Toyota Cheetahs are the first visitors to Sandy Park, and they would need a strong performance to stop the Chiefs adding another victory to their season’s tally.
Ulster are another former champion, having beaten Colomiers in 1999, and this year they have started the URC in fine form with four wins and a solitary defeat to leave them in fourth place. They have a struggling Racing 02 visiting Ravenhill, so will be confident of getting off to a winning start.
Stade Francais won the Challenge Cup in 2017, and while they have struggled in the past few seasons, they are on an upward curve and sit fourth in the Top 14, with the fifth best attack, and fourth best defence. Louis Carbonel is a growing presence at flyhalf, and the soon to be departing Joe Marchant is a threat on the wing or in the centre. Cardiff visit the Stade Jean Bouin this weekend, and if they aren’t on their game they will quickly learn that the stereotype of the flaky Parisians no longer holds true.