Did the Champions Cup opening weekend deliver?

Rugby Union Weekly

BBC

Sports, Sports News, News, Rugby

4.6 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Chris, Ashy and Ugo pick apart the opening weekend of the Champions Cup. Was it the shot in the arm the tournament needed? Or were there still too many predictable results? Edinburgh caused the biggest upset of the round in what was a great weekend for the Scottish sides. Can Prem champions Bath go all the way this year? Rieko Ioane made his Leinster debut, Mathieu Jalibert shone for defending champions Bordeaux and Noah Caluori scores on his Champions Cup debut. We also discuss the 12-week ban handed to Eben Etzebeth and whether he will actually benefit from time out the game.

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:07.0	My Christmas Mix is pure 90s festive nostalgia.
0:11.1	You know, the Christmas songs you listen to on repeat.
0:14.0	Ho!
0:14.3	Ho! Ho! No, no, no.
0:17.5	I'm all about the big hitting Christmas anthems.
0:20.4	Come on, guys. What about those tunes that really slay?
0:23.7	It's Christmas kitchen disco season, surely.
0:26.4	Give me hip-hip-christmas bangers every day.
0:28.6	Those Christmas tracks that are straight out of Lapland.
0:30.9	Get all kinds of Christmassy.
0:32.6	Just search Christmas music on BBC Sounds.
0:36.4	Five Lives Rugby Union Weekly.
0:45.1	General, good morning.
0:46.4	Hello.
0:46.9	Ashley's a bit dusty.
0:48.5	Big one on Saturday we hear.
0:50.3	Yeah, it doesn't happen very often.
0:51.4	No, it's off brand.
0:52.3	It's definitely off brand.
0:53.9	I was a bit nervous. I got through it though, safe.
0:56.4	Nervous about the day session? Yeah. Just, just can go wrong, can't they? But I survived it.
	...

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