A peculiarly poor weekend for the Pro 14 in Europe.

[Tooting Carmen]

Prem is a tougher comp. You can't really rest your players for games normally. The Covid break has meant the playing field is levelled somehwat

But even in the pool stages, when this wasn't an issue, the Pro 14 teams were often doing badly too. A bigger factor was probably the World Cup (2015-16 was also poor for the then Pro 12). After all, the English and French clubs between them can distribute their exhausted international players better than can the other countries.

 

[Reiser99]

I definitely think that since the restart players from English clubs are looking fitter and have far more stamina. Pro 14 had 2 games then play offs, Top 14 same, 2 games then Europe. I think clubs from both are going to struggle with some of the intensity for a bit and that English clubs have got through that to an extent.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

This week the only upset was Sarries and they're a strange case, the rest went exactly how you would expect they went given league position back at the Covid break.

Bordeaux were top of the Top 14, beat Edinburgh who were 2nd in their conference at home.
Toulon were 4th, Scarlets were either 3rd or 4th in their conference.
Bears 5th v Dragons who were 5th in their conference. They all had home advantage too.

Then there was Leinster v Sarries where both sides were rotating heavily enough over the past four weeks. The prem is just a bit stronger this year, outside of Sarries the Pro14 was the last three.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

Ulster out too, and barely looked at all competitive in their match.