It was the French who caught the eye in round one with six of their eight teams winning, including Stade Rochelais and Toulon away from home.
The Gallagher Premiership table after round one highlighted how you can get strange quirks in this game, defending champions Northampton finding themselves at the bottom 16 weeks after they lifted the trophy at Twickenham.
The kegs of Guinness have been emptied and the confetti has all been swept away. Now that Ireland have secured a second consecutive Six Nations title...
With the August 28 deadline now passed for the final submission by all 20 teams of their 33-strong squads travelling to France, the names of the 660 players who will be involved at Rugby World Cup 2023 have been confirmed.
I remember having a debate with the great Johann Rupert. He had bet me that the Pumas have beaten the Springboks before. I said: No you are wrong, they have never beaten the Springboks. He said: No, they have – and beat them in South Africa.
South Africa U20 and England U20 will bring their World Rugby U20 Championships to a close this Friday with wholesale changes in their third place play-off encounter at Athlone Stadium.
Ulster, the Bulls and Springboks will be sweating over the extent of Marcell Coetzee’s injury for the next 48 hours.
Springbok coach Allister Coetzee has made four personnel changes ahead of this weekend's clash with the Wallabies, but cynical fans are not convinced.