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<\/p>\nBath beat Ulster as seven Premiership clubs were successful on the first weekend of the Champions Cup season <\/p>\n
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Rumours of the Premiership\u2019s demise, it would appear, have been greatly exaggerated. If it was with tentative, apprehensive steps that England\u2019s eight Investec Champions Cup representatives embarked on their continental campaigns after a year of worry and woe, then a weekend return of seven wins (including three on the road) suggested a league in rather ruder health than first appears.<\/p>\n
That it was Saracens, the best side in the Premiership, who fell short came as a surprise but there were certainly promising signs here for a league in need of a dose of positivity. Some mitigating circumstances helped explain the Premiership\u2019s opening weekend pre-eminence \u2013 the Stormers, for instance, sent something of a second-string side to Welford Road \u2013 but wins for Exeter, Northampton and Harlequins particularly evidenced quality that might not have been immediately apparent.<\/p>\n
Suggestions that the Premiership clubs would struggle were understandable. The league\u2019s depressed salary cap is about two-thirds that of the Top 14\u2019s upper spending limits, while the United Rugby Championship offers (generally) more cohesive set-ups. And, of course, it is patently ridiculous that 80 per cent of England\u2019s top-flight clubs are included in the Champions Cup, with organisers EPCR understood to be considering another revamp next year: Bristol Bears, who pipped Lyon at Ashton Gate, finished third from bottom last season but were elevated from the Challenge Cup after London Irish\u2019s untimely demise.<\/p>\n
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Bristol pipped Lyon at Ashton Gate thanks to Callum Sheedy\u2019s drop goal <\/p>\n
It is the three-club reduction in the league\u2019s size that has left the Premiership in this strange scenario, but it also perhaps partly explains the early success. The loss of Wasps, Worcester and Irish flooded the market with experienced, often low-cost options with which their former Premiership rivals could bolster their squads. The productivity of the academies at Wasps and Irish particularly has provided young talent eager to prove themselves, creating competition for places and driving up standards.<\/p>\n
Seeing so many homegrown products thrive elsewhere will provide scant consolation to fans who have lost clubs in the last season and a half. But there were individuals previously at the three much-missed clubs prominent right across the weekend. While Marcus Smith took the headlines, Will Joseph was just as impressive as Quins danced to victory at Racing 92\u2019s Paris discotheque. Fin Smith\u2019s controlling performance in the Scotstoun chill shows why he is attracting attention on both sides of the border.<\/p>\n
Benhard Janse van Rensburg looks the sort of glue signing that could turn things around for Bristol, who only have to look 20 miles away to Bath to see how a team can be built quickly out of challenging circumstances: Alfie Barbeary and Ollie Lawrence, picked up after leaving Wasps and Worcester respectively, were to the fore against Ulster.<\/p>\n
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Ex-Wasps back rower Alfie Barbeary impressed for Bath against Ulster <\/p>\n
Some figures at England\u2019s Rugby Football Union (RFU) have long been proponents of a smaller Premiership, concentrating the player pool. A more competitive and financially robust ecosystem below the Premiership is necessary to go alongside; the union is understood to be having several key stakeholder meetings over the next couple of weeks as it refines plans for the second tier, with the ambition still to create a \u201cPremiership Two\u201d despite opposition from Championship clubs.<\/p>\n
A slightly shorter season also aids in providing player rest. This season\u2019s Top 14 started on 18 August and will finish in late June. The Premiership season\u2019s pause during the Six Nations will leave those not involved internationally time to recharge, a luxury not available to their URC and French-based rivals.<\/p>\n
Not all is well for English rugby, obviously. News that Henry Arundell is likely to extend his stay at Racing, in the process turning down a combined club and country contract worth more than his deal in Paris, is a major blow to the RFU\u2019s hopes of having the best English players remain in the Premiership. Lewis Ludlam and Kyle Sinckler, meanwhile, could both be at Toulon next season.<\/p>\n
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Henry Arundell looks set to extend his stay with Racing 92 <\/p>\n
There is also every chance that this first round proves a false dawn. Round two includes English trips to Bordeaux, Dublin and Stade Francais, while Munster and Toulouse will be eyeing away scalps at Exeter and Harlequins respectively. Of the potential contenders, Leinster and La Rochelle contested a hellacious affair in the coastal cloudburst that may well prove another final preview, while Toulouse will take some stopping if Antoine Dupont\u2019s sevens sojourn does not have much impact. It also surely won\u2019t be long before a South African side challenges for club rugby\u2019s biggest prize.<\/p>\n
But fears of a Premiership wipeout were misplaced. Three finals have now passed without an English side involved \u2013 this weekend showed that there is at least a chance of that run ending.<\/p>\n