The End of the Heineken Cup?

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The Heineken Cup, one of professional rugby's biggest success stories, was driven closer to oblivion when the leading clubs in England and France announced that planning was under way for a rival two-nation tournament to be launched next season.

In a fierce declaration of intent, they gave provincial and regional teams in the other major European nations – Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy – a maximum of six weeks to join them in their new venture.

"We made it clear more than a year ago that we would withdraw from the Heineken Cup as it is currently constituted at the end of this season," said Mark McCafferty, the chief executive of Premier Rugby, the organisation representing the interests of England's top-flight clubs.

"The last all-stakeholder meeting on reform of the tournament was back at the end of May. Here we are, almost in mid-September, with the domestic competitions in England and France up and running, and no clarity as to what is happening in terms of European competition.

Madness

"What's the definition of madness? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. We've been talking for 12 months now and we've gone round in circles.

"There comes a point when you feel there's nothing there to negotiate. We've put forward positive proposals to the other interested parties, but there has been no movement. Now we need to crack on and put something in place for the 2014-15 season."

Together with the French, the other major financial drivers in the European club game, the English clubs have long been dissatisfied with the structure of the Heineken Cup, arguing that the qualification process is loaded against them and complaining of weak performance in both the commercial and governance spheres.

They have pushed hard for a revamping of the tournament, cutting the number of teams from 24 to 20 and demanding equality of opportunity in the qualification process, with the top six teams from the Premiership, the French Top 14 league and the Pro12 making the cut as of right.

Unsurprisingly, the Celts have resisted a move that would make life significantly more challenging for their major teams.

The assumption in Dublin, Edinburgh and Cardiff has been that by playing the long game in negotiations, they would wear down the English and French and successfully defend the status quo, or at least end up with something looking very much like it.

That approach was left dead in the water by yesterday's simultaneous statements from Premier Rugby and the Ligue Nationale de Rugby.

"I think people saw our serving notice of withdrawal last year as a bargaining tool," McCafferty said. "It wasn't anything of the sort.

"We were always willing to work hard to achieve some progress, but that has not been possible and now we find ourselves in a position where our clubs need to start making proper plans for next season.

"They need clarity and they need certainty because financial planning has to be done on a three or four-year basis."

While McCafferty admitted that the French clubs would find it more difficult than their English counterparts to declare independence from European competition – "There is no doubt that they operate in a more complicated regulatory environment," he said – the CEO was in no doubt that such powerful Top 14 teams as Toulon, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne and the major Parisian sides Stade Français and Racing Métro would be strong enough to stand with their Premiership brethren in the face of any strong-arm tactics from the respective governing bodies, which will come under intense pressure from the International Rugby Board to break the impasse and save the Heineken Cup from dissolution.

"This wasn't a sudden agreement between England and France," McCafferty said. "We spent a year preparing the ground for this. We didn't just draw up our plans on the back on an envelope."

A new Anglo-French competition would enable the Premiership clubs to deliver on their pledge that all European matches in which they are involved after the end of this season will be screened on BT Sport, their new broadcasting partner. The four-year deal signed last year gives the clubs £152m, around a third of which is thought to have been earmarked for cross-border competition.

Assuming they go ahead with their breakaway, BT Sport's feverish fight with Sky Sports will move to another level. On the same day that Premier Rugby announced their new deal, the organisers of the Heineken Cup confirmed an extension of their broadcasting deal with Sky. Quite whether Rupert Murdoch's organisation would be interested in a 'European' tournament shorn of the two countries offering the biggest audiences is open to debate.

According to McCafferty, the new tournament will fill the nine weeks currently occupied by the Heineken Cup and its so-called "little brother," the second-tier Amlin Challenge Cup.

"We won't know exactly what shape it will take until we have a decision from the Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Italian teams on whether they wish to be a part of it," the CEO said.

"We'll need answers from them between four and six weeks from now. For our part, the planning process is now under way."

Today, the board of European Rugby Cup Ltd, which administers the Heineken and Amlin tournaments, is scheduled to meet in Dublin, where Peter Wheeler of Leicester will represent the Premiership clubs.

McCafferty's remark yesterday that "this is no longer really an ERC issue" will not improve tempers around the table. However, that comment was loaded with significance. It is clear now that the English and French clubs believe the discussions to have reached a dead end.

Meanwhile, the hard-pressed ERC organisation released a slightly weary statement of its own.

"While there is a shared sense of frustration among ERC's stakeholders at the lack of progress towards a new accord, the meeting in Dublin will provide an opportunity for the parties to review the consultation process to date," said a spokesman.

As far as the Anglo-French axis is concerned, the time for "reviewing the consultation process" has long gone. They believe there is nothing to review... and very little left to say. (© Independent News Service)

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Tony Ward – 11 September 2013

Back in 1999, Ulster lifted the European Cup in a season when the English clubs boycotted the competition. Minus the English, it was a greatly devalued tournament.

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That Ulster emerged the best of the rest was of course a great achievement, but without the English, it was a triumph forever tainted.

That is the context to the confirmation that the Heineken Cup we have grown to love will be no more.

Perhaps there is an element of the bully-boys – Premiership Rugby and LNR (Top 14) – walking off with the match ball, but, like it or lump it, that is the financial reality of rugby in this part of the world.

The English and French have sabre-rattled in the past, but that phase is now over, with meeting after meeting getting nowhere.

The proposal is for a 20-team competition (as opposed to the current 24), with qualification based on merit – the top six teams in the English Premiership, French Top 14 and Pro12, in addition to the Amlin Challenge Cup and Heineken Cup winners from the previous season.

Blank

On that point, there can be no issue. If it means the odd season without an Irish, Italian, Scottish or Welsh presence in the main event, then so be it. Far preferable to have the occasional blank in Europe than to have no Europe at all.

England and France still need their Celtic brethren on board for an all-inclusive competition, but nowhere near as much as the Celtic cousins and Italy need the Anglo-French cordiale.

There is no clear evidence, but given that the Anglo-Welsh LV=Cup is already in existence, the suspicion is that, when push comes to shove for 2014-15, the Welsh could well jump ship if the other Celtic nations refuse to join the proposed new competition.

Could that then lead to the Welsh regions becoming part of the English Premiership, thereby leaving the Irish, Scots and Italians out on a limb?

From an Irish perspective, it would, indeed, be a doomsday scenario – just as footballers crave the Champions League, so do rugby players crave the Heineken Cup.

The financial constraints on the Irish provinces would be massive.

Jonny Sexton's move to France has paved the way for others to follow suit – and given an Anglo-French European initiative minus an Irish presence, what odds a mass exodus like that to England when professional rugby first kicked in, back in the '90s?

One thing is clear – however righteous the stand, the Pro12 desire for a Heineken Cup that represents the whole of Europe by way of guaranteed entry (specifically for the Scots and Italians) is no longer up for discussion.

The English/French guaranteed breakaway tournament, announced, has ensured that.

The French confirmation of total unity with the English leaves little room for manoeuvre at today's meeting in Dublin.

There may be six nations involved, but only two have the clout to bring about this backs-to-the-wall situation.

England and France need the Heineken Cup, but nowhere near as much as Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales.

With rumours rife of Irish stars like Sean O'Brien and Jamie Heaslip moving to France, that should bring a pragmatic approach when Peter Boyle and Philip Browne sit down with the English and French representatives for this Dublin summit.

We are not so much on the brink as way beyond it and however unpalatable, the perceived bullies appear to hold all the cards.

Whatever else, this sure ain't sabre-rattling.

[Armand]

I have heard McCafferty talking on the 5 Live over here. The Heineken Cup is a gonner as we know it today. The English wont be backing down on this one.

[Armand]

On Wednesday, 11 September 2013 10:16:15 UTC+1, Viigand wrote:

Sad to see the English trying to take rugby the way of soccer.

 

Totally agree with you. Listening to McCafferty it became very apparent it had nothing to do with the good of the game on a European level and everything to do with the money. HC has been great for fostering rugby. It's part of the reason Italy are not the walk over they always have been in the 6 nations. Wales have benifited nationally from it even if they have never been as sucessful in the HC. It's a shame to see it end and I really fear for the future of rugby as a whole.I can see this having major impact long term on the quality fo the 6 nations which at least these last few years have been competative.

[Sharkwald]

"English and French in 'being total knobbers' Shock"

;)

[Sharkwald]

[Armand]

On Wednesday, 11 September 2013 10:53:53 UTC+1, Viigand wrote:

It is effectively a battle between the clubs and the unions in England and France for control of the European Cup.

 

I have a few fears because of that:

• The French and English leagues will get stronger by taking money from the Unions.
• The English union may well suffer (a good thing for us as it has in soccer) with an influx of foreign players taken from Ireland, Scotland, Wales (bad for us)
• With less strong northern leagues rugby will shrink in popularity outside France and England as a sport

one thing for sure, this will have a major affect on the sport and I'm not sure I can see it being anything but bad.

[Armand]

On Tuesday, 17 September 2013 14:00:09 UTC+1, Viigand wrote:

Looks like the gloves are coming off from the ERC....

 

they sure are.

[Sharkwald]

I'm totally nicking "Sports friendships" as a closing salutation henceforth.

"Hi Bob,

Can you get that code checked in so I can review it prior to Thursday's deadline please?

Sports Friendships,

Owen"

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Guardian article from UK perspective

ERC executives make final attempt to salvage Heineken Cup future

• Unions need to address key issue of control
• Premiership clubs set on new tournaments

The three Celtic unions and Italy face the prospect of having only themselves to talk to when discussions over the future of the Heineken Cup resume at the end of next month. Unless they can persuade the English and French clubs, who have started the process of setting up two new cross-border tournaments from next season underwritten by money from broadcast deals, that they are prepared to address the key issue of control, the European game's flagship tournament below Test rugby in the professional era is doomed.

Premiership Rugby and Ligue Nationale de Rugby have long grown exasperated by what they see as the intransigence of the four countries. They served notice in June last year that they would be pulling out of the Heineken Cup at the end of the season unless key changes were made, not least clubs taking over from unions in running it.

They lost patience at the start of the season at the lack of urgency shown by the four unions, which together run the RaboDirect Pro 12, a league that is not as successful commercially as the Premiership and the Top 14, which are run by the clubs involved after being given autonomy by the governing bodies.

The Celts and Italy are now looking to the Rugby Football Union and the French Rugby Federation to help them not just to keep the Heineken and Amlin Challenge Cups going but to retain the organising body, European Rugby Cup Ltd, in its current form, with unions having nine of the 12 seats on the board.

They want the English and French unions to deny their clubs powers they have granted them domestically. Under International Rugby Board regulations teams may play in a cross-border tournament only if it is sanctioned by all the unions with sides involved. The English and French are pressing ahead with their Heineken Cup alternative, confident their unions do not have the moral authority to stop them.

The IRB would be a last resort for the RaboDirect unions but, if the FFR and RFU backed their clubs, it would get involved only if RaboDirect teams accepted invitations to play in the new tournament in defiance of their governing bodies. That happened in the 1998-99 season when Cardiff and Swansea pulled out of the Welsh Premiership and the Heineken Cup and played friendlies against their fellow European exiles in the Premiership.

The friendlies were sanctioned by neither the RFU nor the Welsh Rugby Union and no referees or touch judges were supplied, but no club was punished. If the English and French clubs start their new tournament, and the Heineken Cup folds, the RaboDirect unions will be hit financially and will struggle to hold on to their leading players.

The difference between today and 1998 is that the English clubs are armed with a lucrative television deal courtesy of BT. They can afford to go their own way and believe the only way to get the reforms they desire is to set up their own tournament, watch ERC collapse and then negotiate with the four unions from a position of strength.

The ERC executive officers, whose jobs are at stake, have been caught in the middle of the two sides. They are making what will probably be a final attempt to salvage the Heineken Cup by asking a mediator to attend the 23 October talks to help find a breakthrough.

They are writing to the French and English clubs asking them to attend. If there is an acceptance among the executive that the Heineken Cup will not survive without change, it is the RaboDirect unions which hold the balance of power on the board of directors and they have so far refused to consider conceding control to clubs.

The mood among the owners of the Premiership clubs, who met on Wednesday, is one of resignation and determination. They are looking for a sponsor for their tournament but they may be persuaded to attend the talks on 23 October if they feel they will amount to more than trench warfare. It may come down to the name, and stature, of the mediator ERC appoints.

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Also rumors that Murray is being courted by several French and English clubs :(

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No Heineken Cup for French clubs even if they are barred from new event

• Ligue Nationale clubs may be blocked by French federation
• Sky deal signed after French and English clubs gave notice

The leading French clubs will not play in the Heineken Cup next season even if they are prevented from taking part in the new cross-border tournament they are setting up with Premiership Rugby.

The French Rugby Federation issued a statement hours after the French and English clubs – who gave notice in June last year that they were withdrawing at the end of the season from the two competitions run by European Rugby Cup Ltd – announced they were setting up the Rugby Champions Cup and would be inviting sides from the three Celtic countries and Italy to join, saying it would not give permission for the Top 14 sides to play in a new cross-border tournament.

It told them to take part in the mediation process ERC has started in an attempt to resolve a dispute which has centred essentially on control. The clubs feel they should run tournaments they are involved in, something the Celtic unions and Italy, who hold the balance of power on ERC, vehemently disagree with.

"The RFU has a similar position regarding Premiership Rugby that the FFR does with its clubs," said the chairman of ERC, Jean-Pierre Lux, at the launch of this season's Heineken Cup in Paris on Monday, pointing out that clubs were not allowed to take part in cross-border tournaments without the consent of their unions.

"The recent media release from the Ligue Nationale de Rugby and Premiership Rugby lacked respect," Lux continued. "The impasse is essentially because Premiership Rugby want to renege on a binding commercial deal in favour of their questionable TV contract with BT. I sincerely hope that people reflect on their current problems and I hope we will be able to reach an agreement when we have another opportunity to engage on 23 and 24 October with the mediator Graeme Mew."

The French clubs are adamant they will not be involved with ERC next season even if they are prevented from playing in the Rugby Champions Cup. The stance of Premiership Rugby, which contrary to Lux's claim has not been told by the RFU that it has agreed to back the FFR and black the new tournament, is the same and it has pointed out that the binding commercial deal referred to by Lux, the extended television contract deal with Sky, was signed after the English and French clubs had given their notice to pull out and was therefore not binding on them.

"If the International Rugby Board or the unions try to stop the Rugby Champions Cup, two things will happen," said the Saracens chief executive, Edward Griffiths in Abu Dhabi on Monday. "First, it is almost inconceivable that a governing body of a sport would prevent a competition taking place which brings £60-70m into the game. Second, if they did try to stop that, there would be no European rugby.

"The English and French clubs have been very clear they are not going to go back to an ERC tournament: no European rugby at all would obviously not suit anybody. If you look at the history of professional rugby, it has always been about this balance between union control and the clubs. That has been a fraught balance at times.

"The BT Sport television deal has given the English clubs more of a chance to redress that imbalance. The unions should run the national team and some of the grassroots and the clubs should run the club game. That is what happens in most mature professional sports. I think it is just a matter of time before that happens in rugby."

[Neil O'Loughlin]

I hope the English remember what happened to Setanta in the UK. BT sport is not the cash cow I would be betting on giving the viewing figures I've seen on thier channels. 

--
Neil O'Loughlin
Tel # : 0044 (0)7894088352

[Sharkwald]

Anyone else hoping the mediators basically just crack everyones' heads together until they agree to stop being wanks?