Clermont's Morgan Parra gets to grips with Leicester's George Chuter
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Will Greenwood, writing for the Daily Telegraph, looks at where the England club sides have failed in Europe.
"England’s big sides went out against the powerhouses of Europe and by and large they got mauled. There have been victories but no one can say they have stamped their authority on a group, and many of the sides we fancied have had their metaphorical trousers pulled down and been given a good spanking.
Last week Harlequins were schooled, Northampton battered, Leicester fed through a mincer. There were times in every match when the English sides looked as if they were the stronger, but those moments were fleeting. What I found most worrying was when the instances of genuine quality came, they tended to be reactive rather than proactive.
What this means is that when the key moments came, it was not the English sides who were dictating what happened, and that isn’t good enough if you want to win competitions. It is the step up in intensity and speed of thought that seems to be scuppering their efforts.
For me there were three prime examples of how they fell short."
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