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New format and English success breathe life into Champions Cup – Andy Goode

Exeter Chiefs' English hooker Max Norey (CR) leads Exeter's players celebration after their victory in their European Champions Cup rugby union match against Rugby Club Toulonnais (Toulon) at the Stade Mayol in Toulon, south-eastern France on December 9, 2023. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE SIMON / AFP) (Photo by CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP via Getty Images)

Reports of the death of the Champions Cup are greatly exaggerated, organisers have nailed the format, English clubs had their most successful weekend ever and it’s back with a bang.

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The issues with the competition have been overstated in some quarters anyway but I think the new format is spot on and we’ll see a competitive and high quality pool stage followed by the elongated knockout stage we’ve all grown to love.

The old structure of six pools of four produced too many dead rubbers and the past few seasons of two pools of 12 was too convoluted but I think this is as good a system as you can come up with for a 24-team competition.

All four pools are stacked with quality, with Pool D obviously standing out as a group of death, the opening round demonstrated just how tight it’s going to be in the battle for qualification and only half of the games were won by the home team.

Munster fan
(Photo By Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Almost everyone was writing off the English clubs’ chances due to the financial issues in the Premiership and the budgets they have to work with compared to the likes of Leinster and most of the big Top 14 sides so it was phenomenal to see them have their best round ever collectively.

Never before have seven of them won in the same round of the Champions Cup and nobody would have picked Saracens to be the only one not to do so. They have Connacht and Lyon coming to the StoneX so I still expect them to make it through and, with the others all having a win on the board already, we might even see every single English side in the Round of 16.

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Sale and Leicester are probably up against it the most with the quality of opposition they have to come in Pool D and bonus points will prove pivotal across the competition but it looks as if we might well see the best ever English representation in the knockout stages.

We should be allowed to bask in the glory of that opening round but, of course, the Premiership clubs do have smaller squads than some of the teams they’re up against so might find it tougher when carrying a few more injuries in January.

The opening two rounds have arguably come at the perfect time for the English because, whilst they do come hot on the heels of eight consecutive rounds of domestic action, a lot of internationals have had a bit of time off after the World Cup and returned to inject a new lease of life into them.

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That is very much how a lot of the bigger URC sides have been able to approach the Champions Cup over the years and I do think some of the French teams will bounce back but the sheer number of games they have to play might count against them.

Top 14 clubs have dominated in recent seasons but they still have to play potentially 29 games in their domestic competition, whereas Premiership outfits now face the prospect of a maximum of 20 so should be able to attack the Champions Cup more.

I think there will always be a thought process in sport whereby the teams with the most money will rise to the top and we may see the English clubs knocked out before the semi-finals and final but the fact that they’ve made such a positive start has silenced some critics.

The rugby on the pitch across the opening eight rounds of the Premiership has been thrilling with so many young players coming to the fore, which we’re going to see more and more with smaller squads and comparatively lower budgets, and seeing that translate onto an even bigger stage was great to see.

All the winners prevailed in different ways as well with Harlequins dazzling on the perfect surface for them in Paris against the Top 14 leaders, Exeter grinding it out at a Toulon team that’s second in the French league and Northampton doing a bit of both at Scotstoun.

Quins’ win at Racing 92 was probably the pick of the bunch but Glasgow had lost just one of their last 22 home games prior to Friday night so that was a hell of an achievement for Fin Smith and co.

Harlequins’ English outside-half Marcus Smith (L) fights for the ball with Racing92’s French centre Gael Fickou (R) during the European Champions Cup first round first day group A Rugby Union match between Racing92 and Harlequins at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre on December 10, 2023. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP) (Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)

Bath looked exceptional again in despatching Ulster and they do have Racing 92 and Toulouse to face in the last couple of rounds but they could effectively seal their place in the knockout stage if they can get a bonus point win in Cardiff on Saturday.

I don’t think there’s any way in a million years we’ll see another seven English victories this weekend but I think at least one will win on the road and I’m predicting five triumphs for Premiership clubs in the second round of action.

Everybody loves to hate the English but everyone loves an underdog as well, which you have to say they are at least financially at the moment, so a few people will feel a bit conflicted about how well they did.

Surely nobody would disagree it’s exciting to see young talent thriving, stepping up a level and playing with freedom though. The Premiership has shown it’s in fantastic health on the field, we just need the off-field element to catch up a bit as well.

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Comments

4 Comments
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Clive 327 days ago

The very puffiest of puff pieces, the SA teams being in it is a joke, there is no reason why the new format will lead to less dead rubbers and in a couple of rounds time the same old will be in place. The French and Irish clubs have huge squads, the extra games will not be an issue although it does appear that only Leinster are in the frame for the Irish, we shall know that for sure if Chiefs see to Munster this week.

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Rory 327 days ago

‘Too many dead rubbers’? In the last 20 years of this competition the only big one sided victories I’ve seen have been in the last 3 years since the old format was abandoned. Goodey is wrong this new format won’t last, only the old 6 groups of 4 will bring this competition back to its former days. He’s only happy with this format so far since the English clubs are going well😂

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Simon 328 days ago

Nothing like an Englishman full of optimism and Goode is nothing like that but he is clearly full of something!!!

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Nik 328 days ago

Disappointed

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Flankly 49 minutes ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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Nickers 59 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

43 Go to comments
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Nickers 1 hour ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

43 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit England need to face a few home truths if they are to relearn that winning habit
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