1) Leicester’s only worry is the day they play
Leicester’s season is taking off at the best possible moment. If they can beat Northampton this Saturday they will fancy booking a Premiership semi-final to add to the European semi-final that now awaits after their six-try demolition of Stade Français. Their try-scoring potency, in particular, has been transformed and in Peter Betham and Telusa Veainu they have players causing defenders as much concern as Manu Tuilagi. Only one thing is aggravating the Tigers: having to play so many of their big European home games on a Sunday. “Television has delivered a lot in terms of financial resource and exposure but we need a better balance,” Simon Cohen, Leicester’s chief executive, argues. “It can’t be right that we can go through a complete pool stage without having a single fixture at home on a Saturday afternoon.” The club’s Champions Cup semi-final is also being staged on a Sunday but the heavy workload does not seem to be overly bothering the players. Robert Kitson
• Match report: Leicester 41-13 Stade Français
• Lancaster: I think about England’s Rugby World Cup failure every day
2) Boudjellal’s prediction may yet come to pass
Mourad Boudjellal needs no invitation to speak his mind and there are times when it pays to avoid reading too much into what the Toulon owner says. Take his proposal in January for Toulon to join the Premiership for example; patently a non-starter but a talking point nonetheless and a perfect way to get under the skin of those that run the Top 14. When, also in January, Boudjellal identified Racing 92 and Wasps as the two favourites for the Champions Cup however, it struck a chord. Wasps had already thumped Toulon in the pool stages and Racing had prevailed at the Stade Mayol in the Top 14, albeit with World Cup players absent, and they were hardly 1,000-1 shots but his acknowledgement that his side were not at the level of the past few years, and the fact that Saracens were not among those sides mentioned in particular went against the general consensus. Racing came nowhere near reaching the fluency displayed in the pool stages on Sunday but having lost to Toulon by a dramatic late penalty in their recent Top 14 clash, their ability to turn the tables suggest Boudjellal may not be far wrong. And having seen his side win three consecutive European titles, on this occasion it may pay to listen. Gerard Meagher
• Match report: Racing 92 19-16 Toulon
• RFU and Premiership close to securing new England player agreement
3) Wasps and Exeter embody English rugby’s recovery from World Cup depths
There could be no doubting the crisis of confidence in the rugby of England a month into the season. All the opportunities that went with hosting the World Cup were wasted by two defeats – eight days that could lead to many traumatised years. But far from being down for long, English rugby is striding towards the end of the season. Grand slam champions of the Six Nations and sparkling at club level. Wasps and Exeter sum up exactly what the national team are all about: traditional power up front now complemented by wit and daring in the backs. Henry Slade and Elliot Daly are on the fringes of the full England team but are leading the charge for a more prominent role in the revival – the revolution. There are still fears about concussion and the scrummage, but played as it is in England at the moment, rugby could not be making a better case for itself as a sport with a healthy future. Eddie Butler
• Match report: Wasps 25-24 Exeter
Dismal gate gives European rugby something to worry about
There was plenty for both sides to be concerned about on the field, but around it the number of people assembled to watch was just as perplexing. A gate of 8,050 makes this the worst-attended European quarter-final since Stade Français hosted Pau 15 years ago – and it beats that by a mere 50. There were two four-figure crowds the following year, in 2002, but this is the first since then. Saracens had planning permission to supply the necessary 15,000 seats for a quarter-final venue, but as it became clear their normal capacity of 10,000 was not going to be required, EPCR absolved them of the expense of extending their ground. Northampton are said to have returned all but 600 of their 3,5000 ticket allocation (if so, they were a noisy 600). Actually, the ground did look pretty full, but it is concerning that two old rivals separated by 60 miles of M1 failed to fill a modestly sized stadium for a match as big as this – and a little depressing. Michael Aylwin
