The Top 14 is a tournament where the end appears to be the beginning and the beginning is the end.

Starting in the first week of September and finishing in the last few days of June the following pre-season begins almost before the previous season has ended.

It is still only September, and as the rest of the Northern Hemisphere slowly tiptoes into competitive action we have already had four rounds across the channel and as ever the competition has captured the imagination.

On match day one Bordeaux beat Racing 64-5 whilst Toulouse lost 30-27 to La Rochelle.

Week two was headlined by two particular results: Pau’s 70-28 thrashing of Bayonne and Toulouse 48-12 victory against Bordeaux.

That first half performance from Toulouse was something else. Six tries and 36-0 lead at the interval was their reward for forty minutes of sheer rugby sorcery.

There are plenty of old and new faces around the fourteen teams. Gaël Fickou had joined Toulon from Racing and Toulouse have signed Tomasso Menoncello from Benetton. The wonderfully talented Italian centre is already a fan favourite at Stade Ernest-Wallon.

Scottish imports have been in abundance with Huw Jones, Hamish Watson and Adam Hastings joining Toulon, Castres, and Montpellier respectively.

From an English perspective Tom Willis has joined his brother in the republic having signed for Bordeaux. The two brothers faced each other on match day two.

Match day three was notable for Bordeaux’s 40-10 win over Stade Francais but the main talking point of that game was the thigh injury suffered by Matthieu Jalibert which could be a big blow for club and country. 

In the weekend just gone the biggest shock was Perpignan’s 38-25 defeat of Bordeaux, whilst Toulouse’ 40-18 victory over Montpelier takes them to the top of the table.

Newly promoted Vannes are firmly anchored to the foot of the table after losing all four games of the season to date.

It is early days but the Top 14 is up and running.

The Top 14 table at 28/9/26: