Good reason to be fearful of French

The quality of rugby in the opening rounds of the Heineken Cup hasn’t been superb but that will be corrected with December’s pivotal back-to-back contests.

So far, the one side that stands apart, with a maximum return of 10 points from their two outings, are Clermont Auvergne, who have set the tournament alight with some scintillating rugby and 12 tries to underline their attacking prowess. The closest in the try-scoring charts are Saracens with eight, while champions Leinster, a team renowned for their ability with ball in hand, have but a single five-pointer to their name.

Clermont have been knocking on the European door for a few years but have been extremely unlucky to come up against an outstanding Leinster outfit in each of the last three seasons, with the next instalment of the rivalry set to unfold with those mouth-watering clashes on successive weekends in December.