No-one is really surprised by the magnitude of the heavy defeats suffered in the European Cup Round of 16 last weekend in France by Bristol Bears at Top 14 champions Toulouse – a 33-point margin – and Leicester Tigers, beaten by a 50-point margin at reigning European champions Bordeaux-Begles.

It’s not really a fair comparison given the size of the salary cap difference between the Top 14 and the Prem, as well as the size and quality of the squads in the French club game.
Toulouse and Bordeaux are ‘superclubs’ who would give most international teams a run for their money.
Added to that, coach...