The first weekend of the Champions Cup saw five teams secure that all important away win, and more importantly, five teams lose a game at home. The stand out performance was Newcastle turning over Toulon, a great achievement, but symbolic of the French team's decline. Cardiff at Lyon was almost as impressive, especially with only 40% possession, with Saracens (at Glasgow) and Racing (at Scarlets) also winning away in tight games, thanks to some inconsistent refereeing.
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| Toulon are being left behind in European rugby |
Teams "kicking themselves" include Bath, who lost another tight game against Toulouse, courtesy of Freddie Burns inability to ground the ball, when Maxime Medard knocked the ball out of his (one) hand just as he went to dot down. Many have fallen foul of the decision to head for the posts once over the line to make the conversion easier, even I have been guilty, getting a haematoma in my stomach courtesy of not seeing the fullback in my blind spot, before he hit me hard forcing me to drop the ball - luckily my team won. Edinburgh will also be feeling that "one got away" by butchering a simple late try against Montpelier, but were clearly the better team, evidence of their dramatic improvement under Richard Cockerill. Gloucester and Ulster secured home victories over Castres and Leicester respectively, whilst Exeter and Munster neutralised one another in a 10 - 10 draw. The only mismatch was Leinster's 50 point drubbing of Wasps, ominous for other teams in their group.
Round 2 up this weekend, where those losing teams face must win games if they are to qualify for later stages. Ones to look out for are Wasps v Bath and Edinburgh v Toulon.
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