Some people write almost as much about the format of Rugby’s Champions Cup as they do about the rugby itself. I know from experience and particularly when Covid had such an impact a couple of years ago. Well, we have been treated to four special weekends and with more to come in the Round of 16, Investec have landed on their feet and most of the media have celebrated the quality and intensity of the rugby played and the dramas so far. The eventual 2024 winners in Tottenham Hotspur’s amazing and iconic London arena, will really have earnt their trophy. For example La Rochelle, defending Champs, now have to travel to the Stormers in Cape Town for a knockout game and it isn’t even the quarter finals!

English clubs, supposedly no hopers before the tournament started because of the imbalance in salary cap compared to everyone else and an apparent inability to score tries if the National team was anything to go by, have been the unexpected stars. The relocation of three broken premiership club squads to their competitors and at forced sale prices has made a real difference to their depth. Post World Cup frustrations have led to a freedom of expression from our players, based partly I am sure on criticism but also near pity for our one-tracked style worse still played out on a world stage. At least four clubs- Quins, Saints, Bath and Exeter – have ripped up the form book and are playing rugby at the level of the best in Europe and have their just rewards in the England training squad. Perhaps only the Toulouse ‘Galacticos’ are a step ahead.

In addition, we have seen a youthful Exeter downing Toulon away, the high-flying Saints doing the near impossible at Thomond Park against Munster, and Bath mixing it ferociously and with no little skill against the French masters Toulouse in their own citadel this weekend as well as downing the current Top 14 leaders Racing 92 – so did Quins in their own home, the intimidating La Défense Arena. This is valuable experience in pressure environments and will prove useful in the furnace of the Six Nations, where we still have it all to prove after so many years in the relative wilderness. It augurs well in a year when most are experimenting and remember our last Grand Slam was 2016, following our ignominious exit in 2015.

Borthwick has picked on form, thankfully and rightly, but into a new World Cup cycle there is little to lose. Wales has picked the greenest squad ever seen and even France has conducted a spring clean of some magnitude. The pressure for Borthwick is now on team selection and tactics but at least his best ( England based) players are in the squad unlike with his now discredited predecessor, whose inability to build a side and gain their confidence has now been laid bare by the players themselves. This was something we already could see but could not have been corroborated other than after his departure.

The main talking points rest again in the midfield – plus ça change – at a time when those selected are carving through the middle domestically and in Europe. What do we trust and who is making decisions on backs selection? This deserves more than a line or two, and I have time before the 6N starts because it is my particular passion… but here is a starter! A host of outside centres – or so it is said – have been selected, and non England qualified players are mostly wearing the No 12 shirt in the Premiership, so what to do? Even the savvy Stuart Barnes is unsure, and Jerry Guscott wants to see Tommy Freeman at 12 for gainline reasons. Having played in a great era of midfielders – eg Philippe Sella, Tim Horan, Jason Little, Scott Gibbs, Will Carling, Frank Bunce, Danie Gerber, Ray Gravell and of course Jerry himself – I can speak with a little authority and various combinations in my time often played left and right centre as well as inside and outside, as I did with both Jerry and Will. One unforgettable alliance with the magician Denis Charvet always remains in my memory (look him up!). More of that later but a lot of rubbish is spoken pigeon holing players…

If I imagined a backline of Mitchell, Smith, Lawrence and Slade at centre ( left and right) with Freeman and Daly (just) on the wing, that is worth getting out of bed for and if they are given licence to play then the Twickenham crowds at the every least will be back on their feet, and not just to collect more beer.

First a sunny day in Rome is in the calendar, has anyone been watching how well Benetton have been going , after a catastrophic World Cup campaign for the National side. I have a nagging feeling that we are not the only ones looking for some short term redemption. Ah, the magic of the Six Nations…