Merit was a word regularly used by the campaigners for the European Rugby Champions Cup and the first draw for the tournament in the new organising body’s base in Switzerland produced five pools of broadly similar strength. The path to the knockout stage will, for most, be hazardous.
The 24 teams who contested the Heineken Cup have been reduced to 20, with five groups instead of six. The Challenge Cup has as a consequence been strengthened with all five pools having a team from the Pro 12, whose only representatives last season were Newport Gwent Dragons.
The Premiership champions, Northampton, will be the least vexed of the seven English teams in the Champions Cup. Although they were not among the three tier-one teams nominated before the draw – with the teams that topped their leagues in the regular season given that honour – they were one of two sides added to the list in a preliminary draw on Tuesday.
The Heineken Cup tended to produce one pool that was called the group of death. In the case of the Champions Cup, it is more of a case of the group of life. Northampton are the only previous winners in their foursome, which includes two teams who have never reached the knockout stage, Racing Métro and Treviso, and a fourth who have never gone beyond the last eight, Ospreys.
Saracens are in the other group that includes only one past winner, Munster, but they and Clermont Auvergne are previous finalists while Sale, who make up the foursome, will offer little in the way of respite. Toulon, who retained the Heineken Cup by beating Saracens last month, are grouped with two former winners, Leicester and Ulster, with the Scarlets, previous semi-finalists, making up the quartet, while Harlequins and Wasps are in a pool with Leinster and Castres.
Toulouse, who won the Heineken Cup a record four times, were among the sides in the fourth tier, along with the two-times winners Wasps, while the third tier contained recent finalists in Clermont and Ulster. With three group runners-up qualifying for the quarter-finals, the final group round should have more hanging on it than before.
“There is every possibility that a team could go into the knockout stages with a record of three wins and three defeats because the groups are so tight,” said Mark McCafferty, the chief executive of Premiership Rugby. “Every group will be tough to get out of and away victories promise to be precious. It took a long time to secure the changes to the way the competition was structured but the five pools, along with a strong Challenge Cup, show why it was worth it.”
The draw was the first major task for the organisers of the tournament, European Professional Club Rugby, although it was facilitated by European Rugby Cup Ltd, which ran the Heineken Cup. The new body is advertising for a part-time chairman and an appointment should be made by September with the successful candidate helping to choose a director general.
Various commercial deals will have been put in place by then by the three-strong executive committee, which is made up of a representative from each of the three leagues. The French television rights are expected to be sold by the end of the month and talks are being held with various leading companies about becoming partners in the tournaments. There will be no title sponsors.
“We are on course to exceed the turnover of the Heineken Cup,” said McCafferty. “The risk is being taken by the English and French clubs because the Pro 12 unions have been guaranteed the income theyhad before. Once we get the French television rights sorted we will be able to move on quickly because potential platforms will know exactly what the TV platform will be.”
Heineken has sponsored the European Cup since it was set up in 1995 and the company is in talks with EPCR. “They are used to working on a multi-platform in football’s Champions League and we are in discussions,” McCafferty said. “We have only just started out, but the ERC team and the three leagues are working well together. Things are getting done, as the draw showed, and everything will befully functioning before the tournaments start in October.”
European Champions Cup
Pool 1 Saracens, Munster, Clermont Auvergne, Sale.
Pool 2 Leinster, Castres, Harlequins, Wasps.
Pool 3 Toulon, Leicester, Ulster, Scarlets.
Pool 4 Glasgow, Montpellier, Bath, Toulouse.
Pool 5 Northampton, Racing Métro, Ospreys, Treviso.
European Rugby Challenge Cup
Pool 1 Cardiff Blues, London Irish, Grenoble, Fira qualifier
Pool 2 Exeter, Bayonne, Connacht, La Rochelle
Pool 3 Stade Français, Dragons, Newcastle, Fira qualifier
Pool 4 Edinburgh, Bordeaux Bègles, London Welsh, Lyon
Pool 5 Gloucester, Brive, Zebre, Oyonnax
