It was the French who caught the eye in round one with six of their eight teams winning, including Stade Rochelais and Toulon away from home.
Newcastle Falcons director of rugby Steve Diamond is stunned his 18-year-old scrum-half Joe Davis has not been included in England's U20 elite player squad.
It was last March when the class of 2023/24 clinched the championship with a win away in France and they followed up that success by securing World Cup glory in July in South Africa.
In just a few days another season of the Top 14 kicks off with the likes of Owen Farrell, Siya Kolisi, Josua Tuisova, and Davit Niniashvili making the numbers of the overseas players ready to make the headlines and wrestle for the title.
Sean Everitt has challenged Edinburgh to ensure “a special day” for WP Nel as the veteran Scotland prop returns to where it all began to make his 200th appearance for the club on Saturday.
Edinburgh failed to take advantage of the early sending-off of Benetton debutant Matteo Minozzi as they were beaten 24-17 by the Italians in the United Rugby Championship.
Henry Immelman sent a last-gasp penalty wide as Edinburgh suffered an agonising 33-31 defeat in their United Rugby Championship clash against the Bulls in Pretoria. With Darcy Graham scoring a hat-trick, the Scottish side had fought back from an early 15-0 deficit.
Eddie Jones has confirmed that Ford and Daly will miss the Stadio Olimpico showdown because of respective achilles and shin problems.
There were wins for Ulster and Edinburgh over the Scarlets and Newcastle Falcons in the European Champions Cup on Friday.
