AND THEN there were four. Only Biarritz Olympique, Toulouse, Stade Français Paris and the rejuvenated Scarlets emerged from the opening skirmishes of the Heineken Cup with 100 per cent records, while Leicester Tigers and the Ospreys are also unbeaten in what looks like an almighty scrap with Clermont Auvergne in Pool Three, writes GERRY THORNLEY

At the other end of the pools, Bath, Harlequins, Brive and Glasgow are drowning with Viadana and must rewrite history if they are to reach the knock-out stages.

Last season, the four semi-finalists all won their opening two pool games, which shows the benefits of early-season momentum in a tournament where you are effectively obliged to peak in five months of the campaign.

But, as ever, there are two ways of looking at this, and the other route suggests the Irish sides – all one win from two – shouldn’t be alarmed just yet.

Clubs can lose trophies in the autumn, but they’re never handed out at this time, and early-season trail-blazers domestically and in Europe often don’t end up with silverware. So it’s been that winners of the Heineken Cup, Munster (twice) and Wasps, had 1-1 records after the opening phase.

Curiously, no team has gone through the competition unbeaten since the advent of the six-game, home and away pool format in 1997-98. Of the nine sides to progress unbeaten from the groups, a mere three have reached the semi-finals, while the other six have lost quarter-finals at home. Go figure. Taking an unbeaten record into the knock-out stages almost seems like a bad luck charm.

Following the weekend’s French clean sweep over les rosbifs, the headline in Midi Olympique yesterday screamed “4-0”, with understandable schadenfreude. Not surprisingly, we have seen the first signs of a French revival in the competition after last season’s all-time low, when only Toulouse made the quarter-finals. Perhaps last year’s embarrassment, and the thought of the final in Stade de France on May 22nd, has galvanised them.

There’s also their Canal+ deal to supplement their benefactors, which has prompted a flight of wild geese across the English Channel. Hence, though the Top 14 has been mostly a desultory kick-fest thus far, it would be no surprise if three or four of their representatives make the last eight.

Toulouse were arguably their least impressive weekend winners, yet we know with their resources and DNA they’ll grow stronger as the season progresses. Clermont, similarly, looked as if they touched down about five minutes before kick-off but came within a kick of beating the Ospreys.

After bridging a 58-year wait, new French champions Perpignan are the most spirited side in France right now, and Tony McGahan and Laurie Fisher will be saying novenas for their depleted frontrow resources when they view the video of Perpignan’s scrum-based dissection of Northampton. That said, it’s hard not to think that the Catalans’ defeat in Treviso won’t come back to haunt them.

Stade Français were a little fortunate in beating Bath, who played the more enterprising rugby and will be kicking themselves for not closing out Sunday’s game at the Rec. Stade are eyeing up a potential home quarter-final, which Max Guazzini will play at Stade de France, and are thus conceivably envisaging an all-Parisian route to the trophy after two losing finals.

A rejuvenated Biarritz, benefiting from another favourable draw and with their Harare-born, Americanised winger Takudzwa Ngwenya emerging as one of the stars of the tournament after Saturday’s stunning, quick-fire hat-trick, are eyeing up a fourth quarter-final in San Sebastien.

Furthermore, in an equally significant barometer of the swings in fortune across the channel, Bourgoin, Toulon and Bayonne lead three of the five Challenge Cup pools, which are normally a gravy train for the Premiership clubs. This makes Connacht’s superb win away to Montpellier, who had won in Worcester, all the better.

The real surprise has been the Welsh, who boast a 71 per cent winning ratio thus far, ahead of the French (67 per cent), the Irish (50 per cent), the English (38 per cent), and the Italians and the Scots (both 25 per cent). The Scarlets, especially, have turned their Magners League form upside down to lead Pool Six, thanks to the influence of Stephen Jones, who now emerges as the main danger to Leinster when the holders renew their defence at Parc y Scarlets in December.

Leinster are possibly still three points shy of where they’d like to be, and while London Irish’s defeat to the Scarlets has opened up the pool, it’s also made it a three-way fight.

Munster, though not firing at their best, still have six points and the other results in Pool One couldn’t have worked out better.

With a home win and an away bonus point, Ulster could be worse off. But realistically, winning in Murrayfield was probably critical to their chances of progress as Stade have had such a good start, and it doesn’t look as if too many bonus points will be floating around in Pool Four.

So Munster, Leinster and four French sides occupy the top six places in the betting, with Munster 4 to 1 joint favourites alongside Toulouse, according to Paddy Power, Stade at 5 to 1, Leinster back in to 8 to 1 from 12 to 1, Biarritz perhaps the best value at 10 to 1 and Clermont 11 to 1.

All in all, the Heineken Cup has even refreshed domestic leagues that had all failed to catch fire. And so much for the theory that competitions such as the Heineken Cup should be run off en bloc like the Super 14. Far better that the Cup has given us a taste of the thrills still to come.

Fógra:Heroic deed of the weekend was undoubtedly Doug Howlett covering back 40 metres with a strained hamstring to prevent Treviso taking a 15-0 or 17-0 lead at Thomond Park. Let no Little Irelander say Johnny Foreigner doesn't put his body on the line. The All Blacks' record try scorer has, from day one, always been prepared to do that.

Fogra eile: Sky Sports have done a superb job with the Heineken Cup, but why, with all their cameras at all the matches and four channels to play around with, have they scrapped their Sunday night, three-hour extensive wrap-up for their style-over-substance, one-hour, Super 14 style format?