English quintet face uphill task at business end of Champions Cup | Robert Kitson

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Heavy defeats during the pool stage suggest Premiership teams lack the power of the best French and Irish sides

Five English clubs have made it beyond base camp in the Champions Cup this season, but scaling the distant summit already feels like an impossible dream. While Northampton, Saracens, Leicester, Sale and Harlequinshave all secured qualification for the last 16, they will need something truly special if they are to make any kind of impact at the sharp end of the competition.

The sight of Leicester, one of the Premiership's handful of pool survivors, enduring a record annihilation in Toulouse was just another stark reminder that the bigger French and Irish sides continue to be the tournament's dominant forces. The last English club to win the title was Exeter in 2020 and there are few obvious signs of the gap closing.