Brendan Gallagher: It’ll be a fight to the death for Saracens and Toulon

The seeding process for the inaugural European Champions Cup is just as unfathomable as its Heineken Cup predecessor but one thing is for certain, it does not favour the stand-out performers from last season.
In fact, it has absolutely hammered them. Both winners Toulon and runners-up Saracens can claim to be in a ubiquitous ‘Pool of Death’ next season and can afford no slip-ups if they are to progress to the knock-out stages.
Sarries find themselves up against Euro giants Munster – and you fancy Wembley might be hired for that particular dust-up – and Clermont, who will be smarting from that 46-6 hammering in the semi-final at Twickenham this year.
Fast improving Sale Sharks are well capable of nicking wins against anybody on the day and although it takes a giant leap of the imagination to see them prevailing Steve Diamond’s team could in fact hold the key to the pool. Away wins are famously key in Europe but never more so than in this pool which features three of sides with the best home records in Europe.
“Playing in Europe you expect to come up against the best teams and I feel that we’ve got that,” reflects Saracens boss Mark McCall. “Three of the teams in the group have been in the semi-finals for the last two seasons, so it’s a group that is going to be ridiculously tough but incredibly exciting.”

“Things can move quite quickly in rugby. In Munster’s case they have changed their coaching staff for this season bringing in Anthony Foley who is a Munster man through and through, and has been part of some of their legendary exploits in Europe.
“Clermont have also changed personnel, with Vern Cotter moving on to Scotland, so they will be different.
“Next season’s starting to take shape now after the draw. We’ll find out our schedule in due course when the Aviva Premiership fixtures are announced, we’ve got all our plans in place. The players are on a well-earned break at the moment but all of sudden with the European draw it’s starting to whet the appetite.”
Meanwhile Toulon, post-Jonny, will have to engage top gear from the off with Leicester Tigers and Ulster snapping at their heels while Scarlets are determined to start making an impact in Europe again. That splendid Parc y Scarlets deserves to host more 15,000 capacity crowds than it does but the three home matches they now have are all mouth-watering, especially if they can get on a roll and be a major factor in the pool.
The French giants will start favourites, of course they will, but like most French teams they remain vulnerable occasionally on the road as Cardiff Blues, hardly enjoying the most distinguished of seasons, demonstrated with their shock win at Cardiff Arms Park last autumn.
Leicester boss Richard Cockerill as ever, is up for the fight. “We’ve been to all three venues in recent seasons and know the strength of the challenge from each of them, and I’m sure they’ll all be looking at Leicester and thinking the same thing.”
Pool Four looks a cracker with four evenly contested sides seemingly all capable of progressing further. Glasgow produced and excellent brand of rugby last season and will have gained massively by twice tangling with Toulon while Bath are clearly on the up and, although their Amlin campaign last season ultimately ended with a defeat against Northampton in the final, they will have benefitted from being back in the Euro mix.
“Bath have got a great European history – you can see that by the pictures on the wall – but there are no recent images and we want to put that right,” says their combative flanker Matt Garvey. “We were in a good position against Saints in the Challenge Cup final last month, but things changed and the result was extremely frustrating. But it also made us more determined to challenge for silverware again.
“Being in the top European competition means there are no easy games – although I’m glad we aren’t in Pool One or Pool Three.
“We’ve still been drawn against top teams. Glasgow probably exceeded most people’s expectations when they reached the Pro12 final. They’ve certainly established a winning culture and I’m sure they want to push on and win titles.

“When I was watching the draw I thought we were doing quite well until we got Toulouse as our Tier Four team. However, you’ve got to play against good teams to be successful and although they have international stars, and it’ll be a huge challenge, it’ll also be a great experience.
“Montpellier are big and physical and have moved up the French rankings and are sure to be a typically tough challenge on their home patch.”
In Pool Two, Pro12 champions Leinster will start as favourites but not overwhelmingly so. Castres are really beginning to build and Harlequins were disappointed to have exited so early last season while Wasps are beginning to get the taste again and served notice of their potential with that fine win at Stade Francais last month in the play-off game between those sides placed seventh in the Aviva Premiership and Top 14.
Finally one of the best runners-up would seem likely to come from Pool Five judging on the recent form of Treviso who fell away disappointingly last season and have lost a raft of their Italian internationals in the meantime.
The Italians need to recruit exceptionally well if they are to be anything other than cannon fodder for Premiership champions Northampton and big-spending Racing who showed signs of gelling towards the backend of last season. Ospreys? Who knows. They ought to be European contenders but so rarely are.
Exact dates of ties will be confirmed next month along with TV schedules. BT Sport get the first, second, third and fifth picks of all pool games plus the final “English” fixture.
Sky will cover the other five pool matches.
*This article was first published in The Rugby Paper on June 15.