Lessons from the story so far

English clubs go missing again...

Whatever about the revival of the England national team under Stuart Lancaster, the clubs are proving what Lancaster’s predecessor Martin Johnson discovered at the World Cup last autumn: that the relentless grunt, grind and bash of their domestic Aviva Premiership is no platform for success at a higher level.

Much-vaunted English stalwarts Harlequins, Leicester and Northampton had their European dreams ended by Irish provinces — Quins edged out by Connacht, having won in Toulouse; the Tigers unsettled at Ravenhill and Saints ripped apart by Munster in Milton Keynes — while Bath, Gloucester and London Irish were never at the races in their respective pools.