Round three of the Champions Cup was highly successful for English clubs, says Stuart Barnes

There cannot have been many better days at the pool stage for English club rugby. Of the seven English clubs in the European Cup six of them prevailed. The only English team to lose, Sale, were beaten by fellow English club, Saracens.

Going into the weekend the English had suffered some early struggles with just five wins from 14 games. Coming out of round three and at the half-way stage and they have clawed their way back into a healthy state. Of the five pools, French clubs head three of them and English the other two.

In contrast it was a terrible week for Guinness Pro 12 teams with only Ulster winning from their seven-strong contingent – and that was against the Scarlets, a fellow Pro 12 team. Ospreys did manage a draw at home to Racing Metro but of the two sides the French would probably have been the happier.

Three rounds in and three remaining and only Glasgow and Leinster break the Anglo-French grip of first and second in the pools. There is much work to be done by the league that has given Europe four of its last seven winners (Leinster and Munster).

With the Tigers having lost at the Scarlet’s they are probably still going to need victories in Toulon or Belfast to have a chance of making the knock outs.

Munster, in particular, now look up against it. They lost their unbeaten record against French teams in Thomond Park. The bonus point picked up in defeat was not much of a bonus. Clermont outplayed them and although Munster ground their way to within seven with 20 minutes remaining, there was no sign of those demons that have haunted this team in recent years.

Munster up against it

Camille Lopez kept them in shape from fly-half and the aggression of the gain line defence was something to behold. Munster, being Munster, should not be dismissed but it will take one of those legendary efforts from the days of Paul O’Connell’s youth and Anthony Foley’s playing days to not slip further away from qualification.

Saracens, the third of last year’s semi-finalists (and the only one of them that made the final) are struggling for fluency but dogged defence gave them the vital four away points at Sale. At home this weekend they will push on and seek five. If they manage that, they and Clermont will assume the mantle of favourites although Munster will not go down without a fight when they head for Saracens in round five before finishing with the pool’s easiest match, Sale at home in round six. Given three from five runners-up will qualify, this pool is far from over whatever happens in round four.

In pool two Harlequins beat Leinster but revealed their lack of confidence in kicking the ball dead at the 80-minute mark instead of going for a drop goal or penalty to deprive the Irish side of an away bonus point. Now if Munster’s losing bonus point was not much of a consolation this one was. Leinster know how important this could yet be. They have to win at the RDS next weekend and deprive Harlequins of a bonus point to edge ahead in the race to top the pool but don’t rule Wasps out. Their five points keeps them in contention as a dangerous wild card team. The only certainty from this pool is Castres' elimination.

Leicester, galvanised by their scrum and another tactically sharp performance from Ben Youngs, enjoyed a rare and famous win over champions Touloun but the French will fancy themselves to win at home. With the Tigers having lost at the Scarlets they are probably still going to need victories in Toulon or Belfast to have a chance of making the knockouts. Ulster did what they had to do and took a bonus point from the Scarlets to stay alive.

It is advantage Toulouse in pool four but only just. They won well enough at home to Glasgow but whilst the Scots didn’t get a losing bonus point, the French failed to score more than one try. Glasgow started the back-to-backs a point ahead. They could yet finish them in the same position. Bath at the Recreation Ground look a hard proposition. It will take extraordinary weather conditions for Bath not to run up a cricket score against Montpellier at home. Reports are rife that Fabien Galthie has left/been asked to leave as the club crumbles. Bath should be up to 10 points by the end of round four and back in contention.

Straight shoot-out

Only pool five has the look of a straight shoot-out after three rounds. Ospreys had to beat Racing Metro at home to match Racing and Northampton’s strong starts at home. An away win in Paris and a home win against Northampton will take an effort that is perhaps beyond this still developing team. Metro will fancy their chances at home. If they win that, the likeliest scenario is a shoot-out at the Gardens with Ospreys too short of points for a best runners-up slot.

In the Challenge Cup there remains the French problem. The tournament is being diminished by the weakness of the French challenge. Of their seven contestants, only Oyonnax and Bordeaux Begles are as loftily placed as second while the rest are third or fourth. The lower placed teams are in such a scrap for survival that this competition remains little more than an opportunity for rest and development.

Fortunately that is not the case with the European Champions Cup where clubs from France and England – for the moment at least – lead the way.

Stuart answers your emails...

Got a question for Stuart? Email him at skysportsclub@bskyb.com, Tweet @SkySportsRugby #askskyrugby or use the feedback form below.

Stuart, what do you make of Castrogiovanni's rants at Leicester? He seems to have got quite a lot of support from rugby players on Twitter saying finally a player speaks up about what really goes on. I am not sure why, but I would have expected something a little more classy and eloquent from Castro, but is this a concern?
Justin Glynn

STUART REPLIES: Justin, it is difficult to know what to say. I know no more than you regarding the workings behind the scenes between Richard Cockerill and his players so all I can say is, that were MC's comments accurate then what is the problem with a man speaking his mind? Integrity doesn't have to be eloquent. I am not sure why you are worried about the nature of the outburst. I reiterate however, I have no first-hand knowledge and am not prepared to take players tweets as primary proof, either way...a sort of no comment.

I watched the highlights of this weekend’s rugby on Sky and there was no mention of Fritz Lee's blatant punch on Peter O'Mahony. I was at the game at everyone was incensed Wayne Barnes didn't check the TMO. Did you see it and do you think he should have been sent off?
John Rooney

STUART REPLIES: John, I'll spool back through the game. Does that answer the question? I think on the evidence of Saturday Munster have much more to worry about than another `what's the ref doing?' complaint. You might be right, I shall check but that's not getting to the essence of the game. Clermont were very good, so for that matter was Lee.

Hi Stuart, a lot of people have been talking about the 10-12 axis for England. While people have been championing a Ford-Farrell combination, is this a combination to ignite the backs and scare other teams? Surely we need a bit of pace and buzz outside Ford, and while Eastmond is the obvious pick, is there a chance for Henry Slade at Exeter? Or is that just muddying the water even more?
George Banks

STUART REPLIES: George, do we have the backs to scare other teams? I think the All Blacks and a few others would love England to throw the ball around from the wrong parts of the field as they have for much of the last month. I don't think they want England playing low risk rugby and attacking via their set piece and powerful ball runners. The question is not what is the best attacking back line but what do England do to maximise their winning chances against the best. In my book those are two different questions that the manager himself has been guilty of confusing as one and the same through the latter part of the New Zealand tour through to the Australia game where rugby sanity finally prevailed.

Thanks for the interest to you all, as ever,
Stuart