It's usually the subject of pub debates around this time of year. Saracens managed to outlast Racing 92 with all their imported foreign stars in the Champions Cup final to be crowned champions of Europe.
But how would they fair in against the best of the Southern Hemisphere. Is the gap between the hemispheres as stark as it is internationally? Does the increased importance on finances at club level hand the balance of power north? Or maybe the Southern Hemisphere imports mean that Saracens can claim the title of the best in the world.
This question is a little easier to answer for Saracens after they started to play friendlies with Super Rugby teams each January. Naturally this is a game taking place when Saracens are match-fit albeit without internationals, but the teams they've played are starting their preparations for their upcoming season.
In 2014, Saracens hammers the Sharks in Allianz Park - but the following year the Bulls dispatched Saracens pretty easily.
With both teams at full strength - it would be a very competitive game between Saracens and the best Super Rugby team from South Africa. But the South Africans aren't the kings of Super Rugby - they haven't won since 2010, and haven't had a finalist since 2012 when the Sharks were hammered.
The New Zealand teams dominate the Super Rugby landscape - with four of the five teams atop the tournament standings with the most points. None of those teams would be able to match the physicality of Saracen's impressive pack - but as New Zealand teams show on an annual basis - they don't have to.
Such is the skill, power, and pace available to the Crusaders, Hurricanes, Highlanders, and Chiefs are too much for even Saracens to handle. With the Waratahs and Brumbies the forces in Australian rugby too - you can see a hypothetical Saracens team coming somewhere between fifth and eighth were they to join Super Rugby.
Would that be the best that the Champions Cup/Heineken Cup can do? Saracens managed to score tries and points at an impressive rate compared to previous champions this year. Toulon's dominance from 2013-15 coincided with some strong New Zealand teams too - so I'm not sure they'd have done any better.
Avg tries, points, winning margin for prev Champions Cup winners pic.twitter.com/h3pkFtOlgH
— Russ Petty (@rpetty80) May 15, 2016
Actually - I think the best chance that the European champions ever had was in 2011. Leinster were playing a phenomenal style of rugby that was tearing teams apart up north. And the Reds were getting the most out of Quade Cooper and Will Genia to win the Super Rugby title. As we found out later in 2011 - an Australian team led by Cooper and Genia fell to the majority of that Leinster team in the World Cup.
It's an interesting pub debate, and maybe I'm way off - but the south's dominance isn't limited to international rugby in my mind.
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