England Expects A Big Weekend Of Revenge
Round 3 of the Champions Cup couldn’t have been more dismal for the English clubs, with all seven losing against Top 14 and PRO14 opposition. The autopsies began immediately, but it’s hard to put your finger on why it happened. Of course it might just be cyclical – it’s not that long ago that we had a round where every English club won – but I think there’s a bit more to it than that.
Let’s start with the obvious – despite those results nothing will shift me from my view that over the course of the season, the Premiership is stronger than the Celtic League. I would also rate it as a better competition than the French equivalent where losing away from home is almost accepted.
Yes, some of the French squads are terrifyingly strong, as we saw with Clermont last Monday, but in the league they’re very different animals at home and away.
We still haven’t completely removed the inherent advantage that the top Pro 14 sides get from being able to field weaker teams before what they regard as the more important Champions
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