When the European Cup reaches the last eight thankfully it has shed the hangers-on who finish in the lower end of their domestic leagues and have been devaluing the tournament for the last six years, and it paves the way for matches of the sort that established it as the world’s flagship club tournament.

Bath and Northampton Saints produced one of those encounters at The Rec on Friday night in a knockout quarter-final, which raised it a few notches above most Premiership fare.
It meant that even though the balance in the pro game is that attack is overwhelming defence to an unprecedented de...