JEREMY GUSCOTT

OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK

Tenacity: Lewis Ludlam could spark Northampton’s bid
PICTURE: Getty Images

THE European Cup is incredibly competitive since the numbers shrunk, with a free pass to the Italians gone. That means that there is no longer a weak pool which almost guaranteed two quarter- final qualifiers, and there is also not such an obvious ‘pool of death’ because every pool is hard fought.
Another development is that over the last couple of seasons teams have got through to the last eight, despite losing a couple of games, like...