Now that the initial matches of the latest Champions Cup in the books, we examine the key revelations highlighted by the games.
Gallic supremacy has defined the competition in the past few campaigns, with the last five champions all calling home France's top flight. But, the opening round featured multiple impressive wins from potential rivals.
Bordeaux Seem Ready to Retain Their Crown
Defending champions Bordeaux Begles were imperious in the competition a year ago, dismantling Toulouse in the last four and afterwards Northampton in the final.
Lying sixth in the domestic standings, doubts have been raised about their capacity to retain the title this year. However, in round one, Bordeaux served notice that they are fully equipped of achieving back-to-back titles with a high-scoring away victory in South Africa.
Given a difficult tie at Loftus Versfeld against a strong Bulls side including stars 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 displayed their class in the final 40 minutes, storming back to claim a 46-33 victory – holding the Bulls without a point after the halftime.
French try-scoring phenoms Damian Penaud and World Player of the Year nominee Louis Bielle-Biarrey were among the try-scorers. Any side with that pair on the wings stands a good chance against any opponent.
Impressive Bath Appear Equipped of Challenging for the Title
Bath's sole success in Europe was almost three decades ago. In the years since, they have probably never been more strongly positioned to secure another title.
The defending English Premiership champions are leading the way 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 team looked a extremely well-rounded and balanced unit in their 40-14 defeat of Munster, who are highly placed in the URC.
They combine creative spark – securing the extra point in under 20 minutes at the Rec – with tough tackling, keeping their guests at arm's length when they attempted a late rally.
With stars such as Finn Russell and Ben Spencer in the half-backs and quality reserves throughout the squad, they are surely genuine challengers for a first European trophy since 1998.
Bath's pivotal moment in the pools the previous year occurred in the next fixture, an heartbreaking 22-21 setback at Benetton with a rotated team.
After winning a domestic championship to their name and setting the pace the home league, Van Graan might decide to place greater emphasis on the Champions Cup this season.
Glasgow Give Sale a Major Blow
There are quality outfits in every pool, but Pool One looks set to be one of the most competitive.
In the existing pool system, a lot is emphasized regarding securing home wins, which is why Glasgow's triumph at an opponent's ground at Sale on Friday evening might just turn out to be vital.
The Glasgow Warriors were 14-0 down after 20 minutes but responded with character, and two tries early in the second half gave them a valuable five points.
With this result, they provided their prospects of qualification a positive start and, in turn, inflicted a significant setback to the Sharks.
With Toulouse – imperious 56-19 winners against the Sharks – and Saracens, who easily overcame Clermont, also in the pool, we should be in for high-stakes drama.
And as for Glasgow's traditional foes Edinburgh? They produced one of their best European performances in recent memory to shock former champions Toulon 33-20, on a successful weekend for the Scottish game.
Will Ioane Be the Missing Ingredient of the Leinster Jigsaw?
When considering a contender you would expect to be challenging at the later stages of the Champions Cup, it would be four-time winners Leinster.
Yet in the last few years it has not worked out, as they have shown great potential but fallen short. Beaten finalists three years in a row between 2022-24, they looked overwhelming favourites last season after building on a 62-0 mauling of Harlequins in the last 16 with a 52-0 win over Glasgow in the last eight.
It was thought that Kiwi international Jordie Barrett would be the missing ingredient to take them over the line, but they were surprised and experienced a shock loss to Northampton Saints in the last four.
This year they are testing another New Zealand import, this time with Rieko Ioane, who registered a key pass on his debut in Saturday's 45-28 success against Harlequins.
Will Ioane prove to bring the trophy back to Ireland for the first occasion since 2018?
Stormers Seem Prepared to Challenge
From the moment the SA franchises joined the Champions Cup in 2022-23, the furthest any of their teams have got is the quarter-finals, and last year none of them was able to progress out of the pool phase, with several rotated sides used.
Could this be the season that changes? The Stormers are first in the URC and began their European campaign with a 26-17 triumph in France at Bayonne on Friday.
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 round-one win.
The Stormers look the most likely contender for a SA franchise to progress far in the competition, although write off the Sharks and Bulls, who both lost in their first games but did play Toulouse and Bordeaux respectively.
Northampton and Pau Serve Up a Memorable Match
There were several candidates for game of the weekend, and the Northampton vs. Pau game was right up there.
Pau have been having a brilliant campaign, guided by stars Julian Montoya and Facundo Isa and former Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson.
They are right now runner-up in the French championship and the crowd was raucous at the Stade du Hameau|their home ground|Pau's
