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Our experts, including Jonny Wilkinson, analyse all the Champions Cup action

The European Rugby Champions Cup  on display before the match between Harlequins and Castres Olympique at the Twickenham Stoop
Image: What the best teams in Europe are playing for

The European Champions Cup is up and running and we have had some incredible action over the weekend. Munster’s last-gasp win over Sale, Glasgow’s demolition of bath and Northampton throwing a point away against Racing Metro…our experts give their views on all the weekend’s action.

Saracens 30-23 Clermont

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Highlights of the round one European Champions Cup clash between Saracens and Clermont

Jonny Wilkinson: I thought that was a great performance from Clermont. Sarries do not suffer fools lightly at home and would have been really up for this game - Clermont have gone there and done some good stuff. I think across the board we have seen a couple of tries that have come out of nothing – from dropped balls and kick-aheads that have not been cleared up. I think Clermont would have left thinking if they had just not had those moments, then the result may have been different.

Nick Easter: That disallowed try for Clermont... Yes, [Damien] Chouly was ahead of the man but would Neil de Kock have made that tackle? I am not so sure. I think he was going for the ball; you can’t stop your momentum. Charlie Hodgson has been a phenomenal player for Sale and Saracens, his ability to take the ball flat to the line and zip these passes, just sits defenders down – he is just in a rich vein of form.

Sale 26-27 Munster

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Highlights of the Champions Cup opening clash between Sale and Munster.

Will Greenwood: A brilliant start from Sale; their supporters were telling us that that is the best rugby they have played in two years but still they come away with the loss, they took their foot off the gas in the second half and were playing the wrong sort of rugby. Somehow Munster are back in the game and there is a new Ronan O’Gara in town.

Nick Easter: The whole region of Munster has just been bred for Europe – they probably have the best fans in Europe! I don’t know what it is but every young fly-half in the region must be on the phone to Ronan O’Gara asking about handling the pressure of dropping a drop goal under pressure to win your side a game in the last minute. Their ability to keep hold of the ball, go through the phases and slow the ball if necessary is excellent – they have been masters of that for the last 10-12 years.

More from 2014 European Rugby Champions Cup, Round 1

Leicester 25-18 Ulster

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Highlights of the round one European Champions Cup clash between Leicester and Ulster

Nick Easter: It looks like Leicester are getting back to something like they used to be. Performance -ise they have ramped it up this week and they blitzed Ulster in the first-half. But as is with Europe and the quality of the sides, Ulster came back and showed their class in the second-half - and their smarts as well, to claim that losing bonus point.

Shaun Edwards: What Leicester had was field position which is not something they have had at the start of the Premiership. What we have been used to seeing from Leicester is them getting scrum penalties – we have not seen that from them but they are getting back to form in that respect.

Toulon 28-18 Scarlets

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Highlights of the round one European Champions Cup clash between Toulon and Scarlets.

Will Greenwood: Toulon are a world-class outfit with riches galore but when they had Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Giteau, you could not get to the two of them at the same time. Now teams can get to Giteau - and if you can do that then you can beat them in Europe.

Nick Easter: I thought Toulon were a little bit flat when they came out – and Scarlets were brilliant and really harassed them. But I wonder if the whole [Steffon] Armitage saga had a knock-on effect on them? They are a very close-knit group but I thought Armitage himself dealt with it very well and put in another very good performance. Toulon are trying to become the first team to win Europe three times in a row, that will be very hard; they are in a tough group and people will be gunning for them. But they are really going to have to raise their performance levels.

Glasgow 37-10 Bath

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Highlights of the round one European Champions Cup clash between Glasgow and Bath

Jonny Wilkinson: We played Glasgow last year; we got off to a roaring start and were 25-5 up after 20 minutes or so. I went off injured and suddenly they started to do what they wanted with our team. They were too far back to get the victory but they moved us around as they wanted. That is the sign of a good team, against Bath that was a very controlled and impressive performance. They key is to see how they get on in the next round, stringing the results together is the sign of a great team.

Shaun Edwards: I think Glasgow put in the performance of the weekend; there is no doubt about that. To beat a team like Bath who have been firing in the premiership and too beat them so convincingly was an incredible performance.

Toulouse 30-23 Montpellier

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Highlights of the round one European Rugby Champions Cup clash between Toulouse and Montpellier.

Shaun Edwards:  It certainly looks like the four-times champions are back. We know they have flair and supreme talent but I just think they had lost that edge, that willingness to work hard for each other. They were not physical in the breakdown but last week against Toulon they really bought that and it was a great stepping stone for what they did against Montpellier. They are a special club and a special name and it certainly looks like they are getting their magic back.

Racing Metro 20-11 Northampton

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Highlights of the Champions Cup clash between Racing Metro and Northampton.

Alex Corbisero: Northampton will be very disappointed, especially with what happened last year when they were flying high in the league and then came into Europe and lost their first game. Not getting a point at all will be a big frustration, I think Racing deserved the win but Saints fought hard and deserved a point.

Nick Easter: In Europe bonus points away from home are so important but no more so this year with the new format where three teams able to finish second out of five pools. Let’s hope that does not come back to haunt Saints.

Ospreys 42-7 Treviso

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Highlights of the round one European Champions Cup clash between Ospreys and Glasgow

Shaun Edwards: The Ospreys have got a very young and mobile pack and their No.8, No.9 and No.10 are gelling very well. They are in tandem working off each other. Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar really complement each other; there is a lot of competition for Wales jerseys but these two are up for discussion. Alun Wyn Jones is an outstanding captain and individual, to me he is one of the best tight five players in the world. In fact he is the best second row player in the world in my opinion. He leads the way both in example and verbally. 

Nick Easter: Next week Ospreys go to Franklin's Gardens to take on Northampton and they have to keep on doing what they have been doing. They are unbeaten in all competitons but Northampton are a very competiive side and weather permittingw e should see some excellent rugby 

Leinster 25-20 Wasps

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Highlights of the round one European Champions Cup clash between Leinster and Wasps

Shaun Edwards: Leinster are not the second most successful team in Europe for nothing, however I think there were a lot of positives for Wasps. It was not many years ago when Wasps were almost relegated and now they are going toe-to-toe with Leinster at the RDS. That is no easy feat. Leinster still have the likes of Sean O'Brien, Mike Ross and Cian Healy to come back which will give them a lot of confidence.

Nick Easter: That was an incredible finish for Christian Wade, he had a toe injury last year but it does not seem to have affected him that much judging by that finish. You need to send two or three defenders to cover him. The old saying is that he will beat you in a phone box; you can't give him seven or eight yards because he will do that sort of damage to you. 

Halequins 25-9 Castres

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Highlights of the round one European Champions Cup clash between Harlequins and Castres

Nick Easter: Castres made us work pretty hard for the win. They were completely different side to what their Top 14 form and position has shown. They came hard at us in defence and we had to work hard for our points, it was 3-3 at half-time. In the second half Danny Care and Nick Evans ran the show for us and our set piece was excellent. We had to do a job and it was a comfortable win in the end but now we travel to our rivals Wasps next week which will be a key game. Wasps have got class players, I think over the last three or four years there has not been many points in it when we play them. Both sides like to play and it is going to be close; it will come down to the collisions and how you win the field positions when it comes to those pressure moments.

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