As I said prior to Round 3 starting the Champions Cup back-to-back fixtures are a fascinating dynamic and a time of the year that I love. The first half of this two part series delivered some big results but from an Aviva Premiership perspective it wasn’t a wholly successful weekend.
Of course it all kicked off on Friday night at Franklin’s Gardens and Saints’ 100th European outing was one that will be remembered, but not for the reasons that they would have liked. Dylan Hartley’s red dominated the post match headlines and meant that their uphill battle during the game got an awful lot steeper than it already was. The Saints are in a bit of a pickle right now as confidence is low and they seem to be lacking a spot of drive and cohesiveness. After the game Tom Wood openly discussed his quest for answers as to why they were flat and the flanker spent over an hour completing his media duties and meeting with fans before heading for a shower. Personally I have an enormous respect for the way that he conducts himself and the side need leaders like him during these challenging times. Northampton’s challenge is a large one, as I say they are in a difficult spot right now and face the prospect of heading to a buzzing AVIVA Stadium and meeting a Leinster side that are capable for doing another number of them. A week is a short time to fix their issues but they need to because otherwise it could get ugly in Dublin. 
Sticking with Premiership sides that had difficult weekend and Leicester Tigers’ nilling by Munster Rugby will have hurt Richard Cockerill and his squad greatly. The Tigers are a proud bunch, especially in Europe, and delivering so little at Thomond Park won’t have been acceptable. Anyone that watched the game will have seen that Munster outclassed the Tigers in every single regard and the statistics highlight that. Munster beat 18 defenders while Leicester only managed to make their way past 2, the Tigers made half the number of metres of their counterparts and operated on only an 86% tackle success rate. In short they got their pants pulled down by a hugely motivated Munster side and right now you wouldn’t bet against Munster prevailing at Welford Road too!
Exeter Chiefs’ hopes of progressing in Europe were well and truly dashed on Sunday evening after they couldn’t find their way past Bordeaux-Begles. The Chiefs knew that nothing less than a bonus-point victory would suffice yet in the mist and fog Rob Baxter's team couldn’t find a way to really impose themselves on their French opponents. It was disappointing for Exeter as they seemed to have found their straps of late, with three victories on the bounce, but they didn't take the chances that they needed to. Last season Exeter managed to find a away into the European knock-out stages but in all honesty I think that this time around their focus will swiftly hift back to the Premiership. 
At the Ricoh Arena Wasps’ outing against Connacht Rugby was a match that I really enjoyed watching. It’s fair to say that Kurtley Beale’s impact on the game was impressive especially given then amount of time that he's had out with such a serious injury. His yellow was contentious and despite Connacht scoring during his sin-bin period thankfully it didn’t have an impact on the final result. Connacht’s outing was tainted by various injuries in their backline and that could be a big factor in the two sides' Round 4 meeting. However if the Irish province mange to patch up their wounds then they will fancy themselves at home because The Sportsground is an intimating place to travel to and they're a great side. Personally I though that Joe Launchbury had a captain’s innings and would have been my selection for man of the match, he fully deserved his try and was outstanding all over the park. 
Finally the match at Allianz Park belonged to Saracens as Mark McCall’s side again showed their prowess. In pretty dismal conditions the hosts brushed aside Sale without a second glance and made their Premiership rivals look distinctly ordinary. In all honesty it looked like Saracens were going through a training run such was the ease with which they put their points on the board and Steve Diamond’s frustration post game was clearly evident. I imagine that Sale's Monday review wasn’t a pleasant one but they do have the prospect of Denny Solomona making his club and European debut this weekend. Needless to say if ever there was a time that Sale needed their home fans to come out in force then it’s Round 4 because the reigning European champions will be ready to do it all again on Sunday afternoon.
Looking at the competition as a whole without doubt the match of the weekend was Ulster Rugby hosting ASM Clermont Auvergne at the Kingspan Stadium. If you haven’t watched the game then I implore you to find a little YouTube link to the game and take 80 minutes out of your day to enjoy it. If you do then you’ll witness nine tries, countless gorgeous breaks from both sides and Charles Piutau’s genius. It’s well worth the watch and is one of the best games that I've seen, in any competition, this season.
So now all of the Champions Cup sides turn their attentions to Round 4 and for some it is the time of the year when we will see the true extent of their character. While there were mixed fortunes for the Premiership sides as a whole Round 3 of the Champions Cup was enthralling and displayed some outstanding rugby. Personally I can't wait to see which sides use Round 4 to bounce back in style and which sides take it up a gear to ensure back-to-back victories... Roll on the weekend's rugby!
