Is there any version of the Champions Cup that will make English clubs happy? It needs someone in power to act decisively – and soon. The alternative is to lose a concept that has beguiled fans for three decades, choked off by the knotweed of disagreement over its format, finances and timing, even though the fundamentals remain fantastic.
The grumbles about the Champions Cup from Bath owner Bruce Craig, in The Guardian last week, are familiarly frustrating.
“For the moment, I don’t think there’s commonality on anything,” said Craig, referring to the discussion between the Prem, the French Top 14 and the URC on yet another reset of a competition that was created in 1995. “We really need to get a right answer because otherwise it just doesn’t work with punters, commercially or TV-wise.”
The main reasons “it just doesn’t work” are connected with money, with Craig among those who are bankrolling English rugby with tens of millions of pounds per season.
He first flexed his muscles in the bitter debate that prompted the clubs and three leagues to wrest part of the control of the old Heineken Cup from the national unions in 2014.
England’s clubs have never made much money directly from Europe, although the prestige, glamour and interest gained in a good campaign are less measurable, and in recent years you can add the awkward likelihood that they will not win it.
Northampton Saints might say differently, but French sides have dominated since Exeter Chiefs took a surprise title in the Covid-affected 2020 season, following on from Saracens in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
And still there is so much worth saving. In Manchester on Saturday, I saw Sale Sharks losing 47-27 to Glasgow Warriors, who would be among the favourites if they possessed the bulk and depth of French sides.
This “Battle of Britain” was stacked with England and Scotland internationals – Courtney Lawes, Luke Cowan-Dickie, George Ford, the Curry brothers, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Steyn et al.
Sadly it drew a paltry crowd of 4,582 – explained by the 1pm kick-off, the stadium’s limitations, alternative attractions and the status of Sale as a Bodo/Glimt, rather than a Real Madrid.
Elsewhere you could find the familiar fervour and cross-border rivalry and vive la difference that works every year in the Six Nations.
It was writ large in the epic draw between Gloucester and Bordeaux Begles, the reigning champions, at Kingsholm on Friday night, with Gloucester’s new-found zip matched against arguably the world’s most exciting player, Louis Bielle-Biarrey.
Ditto, Connacht overturning Saracens in Galway’s new stadium, Montpellier doing a job on Bath at The Rec, and Pau pummelling Leicester Tigers with the grace and bullishness of Theo Attissogbe and prop Jon Zabala.
As for Toulouse defeating Exeter 43-40 on Sunday, in spite of the first-half red and yellow cards to the six-time champions… zut alors!
There was nothing not to like, with huge crowds at several stadiums, other than it all being hidden away in TV terms on Premier Sports – a pay channel that draws tiny audiences in four figures for Champions Cup pool matches, compared with around 150,000 for a Prem game on TNT Sports.
Those companies prefer longer formats with more fixtures to fill schedules and maintain a narrative. Formats like the 20-round English Prem, or maybe one day a British & Irish League.
For Premier Sports, Europe is an add-on to the URC and Top 14. Is there a way to salvation? If ITV, who are going big on rugby union with the men’s World Cup, Six Nations, Nations Championship and Prem, could find room for Europe, that would be a fillip.
Getting rid of the South African sides, and reducing from 24 to 16 teams to make it more European and more elite, might do the trick.
Except the South Africans are tied into the URC, while the clubs not among the 16 would demand replacement fixtures.
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Some concerned observers advocate putting the Champions Cup at the end of the season, but the World Club Championship planned on those lines has already been shelved, and the Top 14 has always loved finishing with its domestic final. Also, getting club owners in more than one territory to agree on anything is the devil’s own job.
It is staggering to think we might be seeing the beginning of the death throes of European club rugby, even as our senses are filled by the strains of Bearnais anthems in Pau, and Glaswegian and Galwegian and very nearly Devonian celebrations.