For six seasons in a row, the Investec Champions Cup has been residing in France, and it's hard to see it leaving any time soon.

Bordeaux-Begles, Toulouse and La Rochelle have shared those six titles evenly, with Leinster losing four of the finals, and if there is to be a challenger to the French rule, it once again looks like being Leo Cullen's side.

For so long, this competition was a source of joy for Irish sides; Ulster were the first province to lift the trophy in 1999, before Munster picked up two in 2006 and 2008, and then Leinster's golden years where they won three titles in four years between 2009 and 2012, before adding another in 2018.

Since then, the Champions Cup has been synonymous with both hope and heartbreak for Leinster, who have lost five finals since 2019.

Meanwhile, the remaining provinces have been reduced to making up the numbers. Since the expansion of the tournament to 24 teams in the 2020/21 season, Munster have made two quarter-finals, while Ulster and Connacht haven't been beyond the Round of 16.

Coming into this season, Toulouse and Bordeaux look on paper to be alone in the top tier, with Leinster, Bath, Northampton Saints and perhaps Montpellier just below. The hope for that quartet will be that the two French powerhouses end up on similar sides of the draw in the knockout stage, in order for at least one of them to fall along the way.

The format of the pool stage remains a point of contention, with 48 pool games required to whittle 24 teams down to 16, with the tournament really only catching fire from the quarter-finals on.

The logistics of the tournament, especially in the fortnight around the last 16 and quarter-finals, have proven a nightmare, with clubs and fans given just one week to make arrangements and mobilise support.

For the English, French and South African clubs, the potential for long-haul travel in an already congested calendar has led to weakened teams and blowout wins.

Additionally, the lack of symmetry in the fixtures creates an uneven field, with teams playing two sides at home, and two different teams away, with no rhyme or reason behind it.

There is a craving in the rugby community for a less-is-more approach with the Champions Cup, to reduce the number of teams and boost the quality overall, but with just eight weekends at their disposal to run the tournament off, we may have to get used to this pool stage sprint.

The tournament organisers have at least taken steps to address the current pool stage malaise, by tweaking the bonus-points system, as well as altering the qualification process for the knockout stage.

This season, the top three teams in each pool will qualify automatically for the Round of 16, with the next four best sides across all pools ranked to determine who advances. This is a change to previous seasons, where the top four teams in each pool qualified for the last 16.

The rationale behind it is to considerably reduce the chances of a team qualifying for the knockout stage with just one win from their four games, at the expense of a side with two victories.

There has also been a major change to the bonus-points system for the first time in 23 years. The losing bonus-point system remains as is, with a defeat by seven points or less guaranteeing a beaten team a point, but in order to pick up a try-scoring bonus, teams will now have to cross for three tries more than their opponent, rather than simply scoring four tries.

It's a system that has been in place in the French Top14 and Super Rugby for some time, and appears as if it will add some extra jeopardy to some games, where a team could see their winning bonus-point vanish with one lapse in concentration. It's a system Leinster head coach Leo Cullen appeared excited by when he spoke this week.

While the province's struggles in finals have been well documented, they have breezed through the pool stages every season, and their ability to rack up bonus-points has been key to ensuring so many of their knockout games have been in Dublin.

Aside from the walkover they had to give Montpellier in the 2021/22 season, Leinster have won 31 pool games in a row, dating back to a defeat to Toulouse in October 2018.

Even with this change to the bonus-points, the province will once again be expected to make their way through Pool 1 with minimal fuss, facing Clermont Auvergne and Leicester Tigers away from home, and Pau and Sale Sharks at Laya Arena.

Once again, they will be judged on what happens in the business end of the competition, looking to erase the pain of four defeats in the last five finals, and secure a fifth title in Leo Cullen's final campaign as head coach.

For Munster, getting a third star on their jersey doesn't appear to be a realistic target.

Last season was among their worst in this competition, with three defeats from four games seeing them fail to make the knockout stage for the first time since 2020, before a Challenge Cup elimination away to Exeter rubbed salt into the wound.

Thanks to a 40-14 drubbing away to Bath (above), their campaign was an uphill climb from the opening weekend, and slow starts have been a feature for them in the Champions Cup in recent seasons, with just one win from their last four first round games.

Their pool this season is a tough one again, with trips to Bristol and Bordeaux-Begles to come, but if the province can harness the energy and emotion of Anthony Foley on the opening weekend against Racing 92 at SuperValu Pairc Uí Chaoimh, it can put them on the front foot and give them a feelgood factor heading towards their Bristol trip.

It would be a major shock for the two-time champions to be contesting a final in Lyon next May, but they remain capable on their day of reaching the quarter-finals at least. And if they can secure a home knockout game along the way, it would represent real progress.

Connacht's revival in the second half of last season means we are back up to three provinces in the Champions Cup this season, but Stuart Lancaster's side have been drawn into a hellish pool on their return to the competition.

With games against Saracens, Exeter, Toulouse and La Rochelle, the province will have to play every Champions Cup winner from 2019 to 2024, starting with Sarries this weekend.

It will be a major test of their credentials, and it will be interesting to see where their priorities lie come the conclusion of the pool stage in January.

Last season, Lancaster was able to use the Challenge Cup as an opportunity to rotate his side, which helped them go on their epic run in the second half of the URC season, which ultimately secured their place in this year's Champions Cup, a luxury the Connacht coach doesn't have this time around.

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