Let's see if we can spot the difference

Munster, Leinster and Ulster, Ireland's three leading sides, have played 15 Heineken Cup pool games between them this season and lost just once in total. All three sit top of their groups. England, in contrast, look likely to end up with just one qualifier – Saracens – from a starting list of seven. Which nation would you back to fare better in the forthcoming Six Nations championship?

Rugby union, clearly, is not quite that simple. It should also be pointed out that France, World Cup finalists and perhaps the strongest Six Nations team on paper, could be represented in the quarter-finals by just two clubs, Toulouse and Clermont Auvergne. The remaining quartet of Castres, Racing Métro, Montpellier and Biarritz have won just five of their 20 games to date. A sense of underachievement is not just confined to English club rugby.

Leicester's seismic defeat in Belfast, nevertheless, cannot be idly dismissed as one of those things. The Tigers will not need reminding this was their heaviest loss since the birth of European club rugby. Yes they were missing a clutch of key players but at times they were blown away at close quarters, normally the rock upon which their own reputation has long been based. The Leicester scrummage came off second best and the Ulster flankers Stephen Ferris and Chris Henry were quite outstanding. Caught in the eye of a ferocious Ravenhill assault, the composure of England internationals such as Ben Youngs and Dan Cole evaporated all too swiftly. It could have been a 50-pointer by the end.

Loyal Tigers supporters will counter that Leicester beat Ulster 20-9 in the reverse fixture and had previously lost just one game in their previous 12. Calling for Richard Cockerill's head on a platter is hardly reasonable. But listening to the former England hooker after the game, as he ticked off the excuses he was refusing to use – salary cap, injuries, refereeing decisions, the heavy Christmas league programme – was to be conscious of a persistently stuck record. The only relevant verdict – which Cockerill, to his credit, swiftly acknowledged – was that Ulster were comfortably the better side.

As with Leicester, the Irish province were also playing their fourth match since Boxing Day. They, too, have a clutch of overseas men, from the All Black prop John Afoa to the Springbok core of Johann Muller, Pedrie Wannenburg and Ruan Pienaar, but no great starry depth on the bench. Crucially, though, the Tigers could not match the sharpness of Andrew Trimble, the urgency of Darren Cave or the intensity of the entire home team. Ulster looked as though their lives depended on the outcome. Leicester, having recognised the fact, were simply unable to locate another gear.

If we are honest this has been a recurring issue in English rugby for some time. The Premiership churns out any number of players who will knuckle down in a slug-fest but tend to struggle to unsettle top-class opponents. Stuart Lancaster has been accused of not picking enough game-changers in his England squad but one suspects he would do so if he had them. The term 'flat-track bullies' is not a particularly flattering one but it is in danger of affixing itself to many of England's leading clubs as well as the national team.

Even Saracens, within touching distance of a home quarter-final draw, have scored fewer tries than Pool Five's bottom side Treviso. Defence is a perfectly legitimate way of winning big games but, ultimately, it is only half the story. Harlequins, rightly applauded for their sense of adventure in defeating Toulouse away from home, have managed one fewer than Sarries. Gloucester and London Irish have scored just six tries apiece in five games. If the opposition are not prepared to roll over or concede frequent penalties, Premiership sides can struggle for answers.

So what is the solution? Cockerill may well disagree but a lot of it relates to a team's state of mind. Leicester have had to work hard to restore order following their World Cup-related early-season slump. That has to take its toll mentally as well as physically. The men of Ulster, Leinster and Munster have also been required to shrug off World Cup frustrations and injuries – remember Leinster are without Brian O'Driscoll this season – but rising to the big occasion seems to come more naturally. It boils down to hunger, priorities, self-motivation and smart man-management, as well as rearing quick-witted players capable of thinking on their feet. The leading Irish provinces, at the moment, are showing their English cousins the way forward in most of those regards.

Flying the flag

Stuart Lancaster is clearly keen to hammer the point. At the last count he has invited half a dozen external speakers to come and lecture the England squad ahead of the Six Nations championship, from cricket's Hugh Morris, cycling's Dave Brailsford and the injured former army corporal Simon Brown to the rugby league duo Kevin Sinfield and Jamie Peacock and the ex-Manchester United full-back Gary Neville. It is a high-calibre posse but the sheer number of talking heads is starting to feel counter-productive. Neville, in particular, seems a curious choice. If England's caretaker management wanted a passionate former international with a fierce sense of patriotism, Lawrence Dallaglio or Phil Vickery would have been perfect. Both of them could also be relied upon to deliver the simplest of messages: any player who needs motivating to represent their country should not be part of the squad in the first place.

Worth watching this week …

Exeter Chiefs v Perpignan. The English clubs are not exactly dominating the Heineken Cup but there is every chance of them monopolising the last eight of the increasingly-coveted Amlin Challenge Cup. If the Chiefs can see off the Catalan giants and secure qualification it will represent a further significant stride for Rob Baxter's team.