It's an interesting question. All of this should of course be put into the context that Toulon are European champions and Clermont were by far and away the best side in Europe last year, but there are genuine reasons for concern for French rugby enthusiasts. It's been a bad year for the French in Europe this year and the national side has been very disappointing since the world cup in 2011.

I suspect one reason may be the attritional nature of the Top 14. In a 26 game league it's hard to play high intensity week in, week out and as such teams settle for playing a slower and more methodical game. That style doesn't translate well into Europe where the intensity is a lot higher and it's very hard to up your tempo of play with the space of week.