Champions Cup 2015/16: European elite strive to catch up with tasty Toulon

Holders look even stronger with the imminent arrival of awesome All Black Ma'a Nonu

Matt Giteau, Toulon (Getty)

It would be stretching logic past its snapping point to argue that European club rugby stands on the threshold of a Scottish boom: there are only two professional teams in the country and one of them, Edinburgh, will spend the big Champions Cup weekends out of sight and out of mind, having failed to qualify. Yet there is enough of a feel-good spirit in Glasgow to suggest that by the end of the pool stage union followers north of the border might just find themselves thinking about something other than Craig Joubert’s inadequacies as an international referee.

The South African official may have run down the curtain on the national team’s World Cup challenge by presenting the Wallabies with a free ticket into the semi-finals, but it will take more than a dodgy penalty call to cramp the style of Gregor Townsend’s team if they take something tangible from their cross-Channel trip to Racing Métro on Saturday afternoon. Townsend is looking as good as any coach in the northern hemisphere, having guided his team to a first Pro 12 title in the spring, and there are legitimate reasons to believe he can deliver a Euro knockout place off the back of that success.

Apart from anything else, Glasgow have more full internationals in their squad than anyone – yes, that includes the French powerhouses who, according to the whining English, continue to have their evil way with the world through the power of the chequebook. There are well over 30 of them up there at Scotstoun, and while they are overwhelmingly Test players of the blue-shirted variety and therefore less celebrated than those recruited from the southern hemisphere, it is still a striking statistic. If having the likes of Hugh Blake and Chris Fusaro on the roster is not quite the same as throwing Juan Smith and Duane Vermeulen at things, as the reigning champions from Toulon can afford to do, every little helps.

Townsend is wary of predicting great things for his side, and with good reason. “I think Toulon and Clermont Auvergne in particular have opened up a gap,” he said, reflecting on the scale of the challenge ahead. “They’re just about the richest teams in the sport and because they have such enormous depth, they can play different ways: in a style that suits life in the French league, which is pretty forward-oriented, and in a style that fits in Europe.

“I have proof of that. A couple of seasons ago, when we were in Toulon’s pool, I worked really hard on my analysis before going over there for our opening match. I don’t think I’ve ever examined anything so closely. I gave what I thought was a brilliant presentation, highlighting their capacity to play a tight pressure game. What happened? They moved everything through Matt Giteau in midfield, scored four tries in the first half and went in 30-odd points up.”

Toulon have the capacity to inflict pain on anyone, at the precise moment it benefits them most and, with the mighty All Black centre Ma’a Nonu due in from New Zealand any time now, they could be even crueller this season than they were last, when they completed an unprecedented run of three straight titles. But they are not always at their most brutal in the pool stage – never have they emerged from a group unbeaten – and there is enough danger lurking this time round to make them feel threatened.

No fewer than four of the six English contenders know what it is to win this tournament and two of them, Leicester and Wasps, have managed it more than once. But this does not appear to be a good moment for the Premiership contingent to bend the rest of the continent to their will – which is as it should be, in light of the recent salary cap scandal and the cowardly way in which the facts were kept from the paying public.

It is possible to see Saracens registering a presence at the business end of the tournament: the Londoners have been building slowly but single-mindedly towards a first European triumph and if their brightest young players – the hooker Jamie George, the lock Maro Itoje, the flanker Will Fraser – stay fit and firing for the duration and Owen Farrell continues to bang over the penalties with a little long-range help from the thunder-booted Marcelo Bosch, they will ask some serious questions of all-comers.

But the likelihood must be that the trophy will remain in France. Five of their seven qualifiers have the capacity to prevail and, of the other two, Bordeaux-Bègles are good enough to upset some apple carts. Two of the Australians who started the World Cup final, the wing Adam Ashley-Cooper and the prop Sekope Kepu, have been named in their squad. What were we saying about those chequebooks?

Pool guide: Team-by-team lowdown for the Champions Cup

Pool 1: Oyonnax, Saracens, Toulouse, Ulster

Two heavyweights, one lightweight – Oyonnax have better things to think about than European knockout rugby, given their parlous position at the wrong end of the French table – and one cruiserweight, whose hometown performances will probably decide the outcome. Ulster are notoriously difficult to subdue in Belfast (they have yet to lose at Ravenhill this term) and they could make a real nuisance of themselves by beating both the main contenders before Christmas. Saracens sense that this is their moment but Toulouse, under new management following the elevation of Guy Novès to coach of France, look extremely dangerous.

Predicted qualifiers Toulouse and Saracens

Pool 2: Bordeaux-Bègles, Clermont Auvergne, Exeter, Ospreys

Clermont are the Munster of the age: everyone knows they could and should have won the title by now; everyone feels it is their due; everyone will bend the knee if and when it happens. The Frenchmen should qualify as pool winners, thanks to their banker form at home, but this weekend’s trip to Bordeaux is more than a little awkward – they drew with Raphaël Ibanez’s side in September – and there is something about their visit to Exeter next month that has the juices flowing. As for Ospreys, they have Dan Biggar and Alun Wyn Jones. Enough said.

Predicted qualifiers Clermont Auvergne and Exeter

Pool 3: Glasgow, Northampton, Racing Métro, Scarlets

Another tourniquet-tight group, with Scarlets, theoretically the weakest of the quartet, riding high in the Pro 12 table with six wins from seven. Glasgow will be a serious proposition now everyone is back from World Cup duty, while the Parisians of Racing Métro have more than enough clout, even without Daniel Carter, whose arrival from New Zealand is imminent. The imponderables are Northampton, who have some pedigree in this competition but are miles off their game right now. Racing made a hideous mess of the Midlanders at Franklin’s Gardens last season and possess the quality to do so again.

Predicted qualifiers Glasgow and Racing Métro

Pool 4: Leicester, Munster, Stade Français, Treviso

As per usual, we can be certain of one thing: Treviso will not clean-sweep their way through the card. Indeed, they will struggle to register a solitary victory on Italian soil. It is hard to see Leicester winning in Limerick or Paris, so Welford Road will have to be at its most fortress-like. Munster are not exactly in their pomp, but are in the happy habit of winning tight games by the odd point or two. Stade Français are the team to beat, however, especially with the great No 8 Sergio Parisse looking to compensate for a miserable World Cup.

Predicted qualifiers Stade Français

Pool 5: Bath, Leinster, Toulon, Wasps

Of all the groups of death, this one is of particular interest to the Grim Reaper. Toulon look as formidable as ever, with their galactico squad and their recruitment of the button-bright Australian coach Steve Meehan, who should add some attacking pizzazz to all the other match-winning qualities to be found down there on the Med. Wasps have the potential to rip up defences for fun, Leinster are hitting their straps after the disruptions of the World Cup campaign and Bath are in a far happier place post-Burgess. Any side losing just the once will deserve the title there and then.

Predicted qualifiers Toulon

The five pool winners and three best runners-up qualify for the quarter-finals.

Chris Hewett