has the European Cup become French property?

The most prestigious European competition has seen French clubs show themselves particularly to their advantage in recent seasons. Confirmation in 2023-2024?

The four pass to forget the quarter-final of the World Cup? French rugby has the opportunity to sign a historic first this season in the Champions Cup, which begins this Friday, December 8. After the coronations of Toulouse in 2021, then the double of La Rochelle in 2022 and 2023, the teams from France can achieve an unprecedented quadruple in the premier competition of the continent. In recent seasons, the Top 14 has cemented its position as the dominant championship on a European scale. And this 2023-2024 edition can give way to the dream of prolonged French hegemony.

The French contingent is, it is true, well helped by the law of numbers. Having a third of the field in blue-white-red colors (eight teams out of twenty-four participants) is an obvious asset. But it is not the only explanation for French success in the competition which is now called the Investec Champions Cup.

French locomotives that never stop renewing themselves

If France’s rugby continues at the top, it is above all thanks to its ability to renew its leaders. From the Toulon hat-trick (2013-2014-2015) to the finals of Clermont then Racing until the explosion of Stade Rochelais at the start of the 2020 decade, the French oval demonstrates great density at the highest European level. Over the same period, England have only placed two representatives in the final (Saracens and Exeter), Ireland only one with Leinster.

For this new season, the Rochelais are once again among the main contenders with their unchanged backbone and stamped XV of France: Uini Atonio-Grégory Aldritt (best player in the competition last season)-Jonathan Danty. The return of these internationals should do good for the Maritimes, which are struggling in the Top 14 (9th). An observation that also applies to Stade Toulousain, still one of the most consistent teams in the Old Continent. The five-time European champion, a record, will be able to count on the talent of his conductor, Antoine Dupont, whose escapades in rugby 7 should not clash with his club’s European program.

Bloodless English clubs, South African franchises being discovered: adversaries in hindsight

The two French clubs present in the last four last year will not be alone at the table of contenders for final victory. But the guest list tends to be reduced more and more drastically. England, like France, has eight clubs at the start of the competition. But English rugby is suffering from a colossal financial crisis and has already seen three clubs go bankrupt. The latest example, the London Irish, although qualified sportingly, were excluded from the Champions Cup this season due to the insolvency of the club. And if local talents have, for the most part, joined other teams across the Channel, some have also filled the ranks of other leagues, like the new sensation Henry Arundell, star recruit of Racing 92 (four tries during his first three Top 14 matches).

Ireland is staying afloat thanks to Leinster, whose squad alone is made up of more than half of the players called up by the XV of Clover during the World Cup this summer (18/33). Wales and Scotland, clearly behind, have not had representatives in the quarter-finals since 2018 and 2019 respectively. As for the latest franchises from South Africa, they will once again appear as outsiders – the Sharks and Stormers had reached the quarters before being swept away – but still have to adapt to European rugby, both in terms of style of play and conditions.

In this quest for continental excellence, French clubs have set themselves as a benchmark for sustainability. Since 2013, only one final has been played without a French team (in 2019), when three of these title matches saw a Franco-French clash. Again for the record on May 25 in London?