French power will be so tough to overcome
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English clubs are up against it in the Champions Cup because they are competing against French clubs which have much bigger budgets.
In fact, in the last decade, the only Premiership club that’s managed to compete successfully against the French, and Leinster, has been Saracens.
They found out in their first final against Jonny Wilkinson’s Toulon in 2014 what they had to do to become European champions, and first and foremost it was to develop a Saracens pack which was capable of competing against French clubs which are never weak up front.
Going into this season’s tournament it seems to me that Johann van Graan has managed to improve Bath through an effective rotation system that has sharpened their competitive edge, and it should help them to qualify from Pool 2. However, some English clubs might hold back to focus on the Premiership, while others might take the view of really going for it by fielding their strongest teams.
It will be interesting to see which path Harlequins take in Paris in today’s Pool 2 encounter when they face a Racing 92 side under Stuart Lancaster who start this European campaign as Top 14 leaders.
Lancaster has joined a club which has lost three European Cup finals, and Racing will hope that the former England and Leinster coach fits into place as the last piece in the jigsaw that finally sees them win it.
When Lancaster was at Leinster they had an international-strength team, which they rotated so that their strongest 23 was always available for the big games in Europe. It is a different challenge at Racing, and a more difficult one, because for French clubs the Top 14 has always been crucial.
However, with star imports like Springbok World Cup-winning skipper Siya Kolisi and prop Trevor Nyakane, as well as Fijian blockbuster Josua Tuisova, plus French internationals of the calibre of Cameron Woki and Gael Fickou, Lancaster has no shortage of firepower to fight on two fronts.
The expectation now is for Racing to live up to their new age stadium at La Defense by playing the sort of attacking rugby that will fill their indoor arena. Being in Paris is not quite as intense as being located in a south-west rugby union hotbed like Toulouse, but there’s no doubting Racing’s ambition.
When it comes to meeting great expectations at the national level there is always a question-mark against France, but with clubs of the pedigree of Toulouse, Toulon, and now La Rochelle, they have had great success in the European Cup.
Racing want to join them, and Lancaster – despite saying that he wants to improve his French so he can communicate better – already appears to have got them buzzing, and wanting to play for each other.
With an international team, like England, building a team is a slower process that might take a couple of years, but at a club it can happen very quickly – even in two or three months. So, I would never underestimate Lancaster’s ability to get a team joined-up and galvanised.
Lancaster signed Henry Arundell having had the experience of working with some really good young Irish prospects at Leinster, like Hugo Keenan and Jordan Larmour. What coach doesn’t want to work with that sort of talent? However, some are better at it than others, and Arundell is in form and playing well for Racing, and I expect it to continue.
It is a big ask for Harlequins – who don’t really have a great European pedigree – to get through to the latter stages of the tournament.
Apart from their heavy home defeat by Saracens, they have had a decent start to the season, but I’m not yet convinced by Quins. Their big names like Joe Marler, Alex Dombrandt, Andre Esterhuizen, and new arrival Joe Launchbury, will have to be 8/10 in all their big European matches if they are to progress beyond the Round of 16.
They cannot expect to rely on Marcus Smith to constantly pull the rabbit out of the hat at fly-half, especially if they are not getting forward momentum and quick ball.
Sale are another club facing Parisian opposition, when Stade Francais visit the AJ Bell. Stade boast a new signing in England centre Joe Marchant and an All Black scrum-half in Brad Weber, but I like Alex Sanderson as a coach, and the way he gets his team in the right head-space.
Sale are in a very tough draw in Pool 4, which also includes reigning champions La Rochelle and losing finalists Leinster but, if they can start by beating Stade, and then squeeze out a couple more wins, they have a chance of making the last eight.
Leicester are also in Pool 4, so they face most of the same obstacles – although teams from the same domestic league do not play each other, so they and Sale avoid each other. The Tigers face the Stormers in the opening round, although the South African franchise is expected to be without Mannie Libbok, ruling out a Springbok fly-half head-to-head with Leicester’s Handre Pollard.
Tigers have improved from an indifferent start to the season since Pollard and his World Cup-winning No.8 team-mate Jasper Wiese returned to Welford Road, and they overwhelmed Newcastle last weekend.
South African teams are a bit of an unknown at this stage, and in front of the big Leicester home crowd it will be difficult for the Stormers. Combine that with Pollard adding a goal-kicking and tactical edge, and the Tigers should be good enough to win.
One of the most intriguing Sunday opening round matches is a repeat of the last two European Cup finals, when La Rochelle host Leinster. There is not as much at stake so early in the tournament – but make no mistake Leinster will be really hungry to win and avenge those losses, while La Rochelle will want to confirm their status as European champions.
Leinster without Johnny Sexton is a new chapter, and this is a new European Cup campaign. However, it could be a familiar story: Another French winner is more than likely, because it is hard to look past the huge French packs.
