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Stuart Barnes: Bath inspiration and Toulouse consternation - Round 5 of the Champions Cup

Image: Bath: Realised their potential on the road with their superb win in Toulouse

Stuart Barnes looks at the latest bout of Champions Cup action and what it means for the final round this weekend.

Round five of the Champions Cup was another triumph for the reinvigorated English challenge; after a slow start the Premiership clubs have roared into life with Wasps and Bath turning their campaigns around after losing their opening pair of games.

At both club and international level this was quite some weekend but not wholly good from an English perspective. The confirmation that Courtney Lawes will not be in Cardiff is a major blow. Geoff Parling and Dave Attwood look a fine replacement duo for Lawes and the longer-term Joe Launchbury but still, it is a loss of some proportions for England.

The London team was rational rugby somewhere near its clear-thinking, big-hitting best. Bath was the exact opposite, pure inspiration and flow in a first half that was mesmerising.
Stuart Barnes

However, Wales are already struggling with the rapidly improving Samson Lee highly unlikely to be fit for the big kick-off in Cardiff. Injuries are the nature of rugby which seems to become more a matter of attrition week by week. Lee’s absence was obvious on Friday night when the weakened Scarlets pack failed to handle Leicester at Welford Road. If Lee is out, his absence neutralises that of Lawes for England.

Champions Cup injection

Back to European affairs. That bonus point win for Leicester left them with renewed hope of sneaking in as a best- placed runner-up, especially when Ulster were not only devastated by Toulon the next day but hammered with a fresh list of injuries to go with their already debilitating one. Ulster has not been a happy hunting ground for the Tigers but if not this Saturday, when will they win there?

By full-time on Sunday, the odds had swung against them again. Wasps’ impressive win against Harlequins leaves three teams all capable of making 18 points in this particular pool with only Quins currently near Leicester in terms of points difference.

The away win for Northampton at Ospreys and Racing Metro’s statement of intent with their drubbing of Treviso already elevates both these teams to 19 points, beyond the Tigers' maximum. Which brings the qualification process down to three matches; two are obviously major affairs but potentially the most shocking of them all is less so.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 25:  Courtney Lawes of Northampton is tackled during the European Rugby Champions Cup match between Northampton Saints and O
Image: Courtney Lawes will miss the Cardiff encounter in the opening weekend of Six Nations - a major blow.

Saracens' visit to Clermont is a cracker with Sarries playing well enough against Munster to indicate they can tackle the Auvergne without any trepidation. If Saracens win Clermont are left on 18 or 19 points, but if Saracens lose they will squeak to 18 if they get a bonus point and be marooned and out on 17 should they lose by more than seven without scoring four tries.

Bath and Glasgow will pack the Recreation Ground with both teams in with a sniff - Bath much more than just a sniff. Glasgow are underdogs despite beating Bath earlier on in Glasgow because Bath have a heck of a home record this season and more pertinently yet, realised their potential on the road with their superb win in Toulouse.

It was quite a contrast to the Saracens' style. The Londoners produced rationale rugby somewhere near its clear-thinking, big-hitting best. Bath were the exact opposite, pure inspiration and flow in a first-half that was mesmerising. I am not a great believer in selectors getting carried away by one-off performances but Jonathan Joseph, the best Premiership centre in England this season, played like the best centre in Europe against Toulouse - in Toulouse. Chris Ashton was immaculate in a less pyrotechnic way and is surely at least back on the Test match radar.

Toulouse consternation?

The talk is all of Joseph (what might have happened had Sam Burgess been fit for selection?) but most pleasing for Bath’s fans was the reaction to the inevitable Toulouse comeback. With 20 minutes remaining Toulouse were within a converted try and their pack was going into overdrive.

Bath brought on Nick Auterac and Henry Thomas with Batty between them and turned the tide at the scrums. Two dominant scrums near their own line were just as crucial for Bath’s hopes as Joseph’s genius on the day.

That leaves us with the tantalising prospect of Toulouse – four wins from their first four games – being eliminated. They have a last-round game in Montpellier where Jake White has a squad playing for contracts. Nothing would do more to lift the troubled club’s spirits than a significant victory against Toulouse. Montpellier have scalped Toulon at this stage of the pools and Toulouse know that. Even against a team without a win, this is going to be tough.

Toulouse are too insouciant a team to worry about anything as petty as bonus points. They have four wins but no bonus points. Defeat will be a stunning fall from their four-from-four position and cause even greater consternation at this great but currently ailing club.

It’s not just the obvious places where the stories are set to occur on what will be a thrilling finale to the pool stages of the European Champions Cup.

Stuart answers your emails...

Got a question for Stuart? Email him at skysportsclub@bskyb.com, Tweet @SkySportsRugby #askskyrugby or use the feedback form on skysports.com.

Stuart, 2014 was the year of speculation; speculation about Armitage, speculation about Burgess, speculation about Ford v Farrell. Is the Six Nations Stuart Lancaster's final opportunity to try out these combinations? Or has he had that chance and now needs to give his combinations and predicted starting XV a chance to settle over the course of this year?
Kevin Hughes, Raynes Park

STUART REPLIES: Kevin, England are not settled enough to decide immediately but the Six Nations has to end with a stable England team. Stuart Lancaster has the conservative option of making his mind up now; that depends if he is sure what style England wish to play. I'd say he is two thirds certain of his team - I only hope he and his players are that sure of their style. There will be injuries, doors will open and close but overall it is too late for too radical a series of selections. 

Morning Stuart. After his team's 60-22 win over Ulster, Toulon coach Barnard Laporte said he was not impressed with the performance. Is that a bit of mind games ahead of the knock-out phases? They qualified with a game to spare. Can anyone stop them?
Mark Jennings, Reading

STUART REPLIES: Mark, Toulon were brilliant with the ball, they were sloppy without it. If they play like that Saracens, Bath, Northampton and Clermont could all beat them, maybe even Leinster on a good day. He was right to be critical. Toulon are not twice champions by being complacent.
 
Hi Stuart. In times gone by, the make-up of the European quarter-final clubs often acted as a precursor to international dominance in the Six Nations. With the amount of players moving to foreign soil these days, has that line of thinking fallen away?
Kieron Fawcett, Leeds

STUART REPLIES: Kieron, I don't think the Six Nations and European rugby is that closely linked, especially in recent years. Wales have been the best Six Nations team and a non performer in Europe, England have been close in recent Six Nations years and nowhere in Europe while French club rugby can, as you suggest, have little bearing on their national team's efforts for the reason you stated. So yes, that line of thinking looks a little off the mark from where I am sitting.

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