ON RUGBY:The first round of the Heineken Cup shows French and English sides rising to the challenge, putting it up to the provinces to raise their game, writes GERRY THORNLEY

AS OPENING weekends go, maybe not a classic, in part due to the absence of one classic game. Nonetheless, there was the heightened sense of importance which only the onset of the Heineken Cup brings as well as several significant statements of intent.

The Anglo-French threat off the pitch beyond the next two seasons is being matched on it in the shorter term.

The opening weekend confirmed much of what we know, namely that there is a distinctly two-tiered challenge from France – with the multi-resourced Toulon squad now heavyweight contenders with Clermont and Toulouse, and presumably not encumbered with the threat of relegation.

Biarritz might re-enter the equation. Similarly, Harlequins, Saracens and Leicester are the main contenders in England.

In the face of such wealth, for the Celts and Italians it’s always a battle against the odds. The feeling always lurked that Leinster may have dodged a bullet in avoiding Clermont until December, by which time their injury woes might have eased and they will have assuredly found better form than they showed at home to Exeter last Saturday.

That feeling intensified in light of Clermont’s ruthless exploitation of Morgan Stoddard’s red card in their 49-16 win over the Scarlets to extend their unbeaten run at the Marcel Michelin to 48 matches. If they beat Biarritz and Toulon at home in the interim, that would mean Clermont would have a 50-game unbeaten home run to defend against Leinster.

All last season we heard Vern Cotter, Aurelien Rougerie and co state that having reached the promised land of a first bouclier du brennus in 2010, last season’s priority was the H Cup. So one can only imagine the hurt when they came within a whisker of beating Leinster in last year’s semi-final.

Given that was the third straight year Clermont had been knocked out by Leinster, it’s doubtful that Joe Schmidt’s team will ever face a more motivated opponent than les jaunards in their fortress on December 9th. And last Saturday’s demolition of the Scarlets underlined as much, Cotter having recalled Rougerie and Morgan Parra among seven others from the defeat to Castres.

Saracens’ 45-0 win away to Edinburgh compounds Munster’s missed chance in Paris but hardens them as favourites in the pool, while Harlequins, whom Stuart Barnes describes as “precocious learners”, return to Galway as the pick of the English, although Northampton, who recovered impressively against Glasgow, lead the Premiership.

The pivotal head-to-heads against the relative might of Clermont, Saracens, Northampton and Biarritz await in December, and they look the likeliest to define the provinces’ Heineken Cup campaigns, but looking ahead to next week there is a sort of desperate, needs-must, all-Celtic flavour to the second round of matches.

Whatever about dodging a bullet until December, and however temporarily, this Saturday Leinster travel to Parc Y Scarlets to face, as Schmidt admitted, a Scarlets team who will be fighting for their lives; as will Glasgow when they host Ulster on Friday and Edinburgh when they come to Thomond Park against a Munster team also in some peril.

As for the Irish, the Pro 12 formline isn’t lying. Ulster’s form is by some distance the best and, even though they lost their way in chasing a bonus point, they have made the healthiest start. The most striking difference with Ulster this season is their improved strength in depth, with Jarred Payne adding a sharper attacking edge from fullback, Paddy Jackson improving all the time at outhalf and they could even withstand the absence of Stephen Ferris, Roger Wilson and Nick Williams at outhalf to blood the impressive Iain Henderson at blindside. Close to man of the match on his debut, Henderson looks like a real footballer as well as a fine athlete.

Then there was the match-winner himself, Paul Marshall. Operating off quality ball admittedly, he is pushing Eoin Reddan as the form scrumhalf in Ireland, and certainly looked in better nick than Conor Murray. Yet Ulster could afford to replace his two tries with Ruan Pienaar, whose cheeky finish was one of the moments of the weekend.

A typically modest and polite young Ulster player, Marshall insisted the huge reception which greeted the change come the hour mark was for Pienaar’s return. Yes, it was initially, but the secondary roar was also in appreciation of his performance.

Herein lies the rub, though. This was Marshall’s fifth Heineken Cup start, and how many more will he have in this campaign, given Pienaar would be some luxury to keep in reserve? Yet Heineken Cup contenders need such options, and Marshall’s upward progression this past year or two is, in large part, to playing and training with Pienaar.

Allowing for Connacht’s almighty battle against the odds, notably this Friday, and relative newness to the competition, Munster’s form is by some distance the biggest concern. They were always going to be underdogs in each of their three successive away games and weren’t helped by some atrocious decisions by the officials in Paris.

But even allowing for all that Racing were there for the taking. Had they been more clinical, with more clearly defined, or enacted, tactics, they’d have won handy. Now they will have to face Edinburgh without Ronan O’Gara, which will give them a more callow look, but last Saturday’s line-up still had himself and the other Munster totem, Paul O’Connell; the All Blacks’ all-time leading try scorer, an experienced Springboks tighthead and half a dozen other internationals. Hardly a team of babies.

Leinster’s performance would have been almost as worrying, these things being relative. But as Rob Baxter acknowledged afterwards, the Chiefs were much more battle-hardened collectively after eight league games together, in contrast to the enforced chopping and changing foisted upon Schmidt.

The Scarlets, with their thrilling all-Welsh Test backline, are nobody’s mugs, and are capable of a mugging, but you sense Leinster can get it right and aren’t far away from doing so. Dynamic ball-carriers is a problem, but when December comes the holders shouldn’t lack for motivation either, given the chance of an historic three-in-a-row, the carrot of an Aviva final (remembering 2003 and all that) and the possibility this could be the final year in blue for a legend or two.

But the reality is that Ulster are about joint favourites with Northampton, Leinster are probably second favourites behind Clermont, Munster are more distant second favourites behind Saracens while Connacht remain third and long shots in the Pool 3 betting.