English clubs can't compete with the big boys of Europe

The tone struck by Alex Sanderson and Mark McCall after heavy Investec Champions Cup defeats might have caught some by surprise.

- HARRY LATHAM-COYLE

"I couldn't be prouder of the group," Sale boss Sanderson emphasised after his side were beaten by 23 points at Toulouse. "There is a lot to like, a lot to learn and a lot to be proud of,” Saracens’ counterpart McCall stressed after a rampant Toulon surged to a 72-42 thrashing.

Yet there was a certain validity to each man’s remarks. No one had given either side a hope of competing with the French giants – for both to be leading at the half-time hooter represented a real achievement. While they could not survive the second-half surge that always felt likely to come, these were creditable showings in which Saracens particularly threatened something spectacular.

But that betrays a troubling truth for the Premiership; the English top flight may provide eight of the Champions Cup’s 24 representatives, but few are live contenders to lift it any longer. Northampton, back to somewhere near their best against Clermont, ensured a degree of respectability as the lone representative into the last eight, but elsewhere it could hardly have been a more damaging weekend. While Sale and Saracens emerged in credit despite their defeats, there were precious few positives to take from a wretched Harlequins showing at Leinster, while Leicester weren’t too much more competitive against Glasgow despite the Warriors’ early profligacy.

The Premiership clubs’ struggles have been a developing trend of recent years. Not since Exeter triumphed at an empty Ashton Gate in 2020 to secure a fourth title in five years for the league has an English side made it to the continental showpiece. While both the Saints and Harlequins made last year’s final four, not since Saracens were in their pomp has a Premiership team begun the season among the top contenders to lift club rugby’s biggest prize.