English and French clubs have announced they aim to launch an alternative European competition, which will be called the Rugby Champions Cup, as early as 2014. The Premiership and Top 14 clubs today said they hope to start the new tournament as early as next year and will welcome entrants from the Celtic league.
A joint statement released by the two leagues today outlines, broadly, the changes this new competition will bring about while also pointing to the expected benefits from the move. The competition will “be based on the principles of qualification on merits...equality between the leagues, higher commercial values and expansion into new markets,” according to the statement.
The French and English clubs have long threatened such a move if the ERC could not find a solution to their issues with the current format of the Heineken Cup. One of the main grievances was the guarantee of a spot in the competition for many Pro12 teams, thus allowing them to rest players and focus entirely on Heineken Cup games at the expense of league games.
Joint statement from Premiership Rugby and the Ligue National de Rugby:
“The announcements by Premiership Rugby and the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) on 10th September confirmed that the Top 14 and Premiership Rugby clubs had instructed their leagues to put in place a new competition in time for the 2014/15 Season,” said a joint statement released by the two leagues.
“It is now confirmed that the competition will be named the Rugby Champions Cup.
“The Rugby Champions Cup will be open to teams from all three leagues in Europe.
“The competition will be based on the principles of qualification on merit, a strong competition format, equality between the leagues, higher commercial values for the teams and expansion into new European markets.
“The Top 14 and Premiership Rugby clubs have already confirmed their participation in the new competition and a joint working group has been created to prepare all necessary elements in good time for the 2014/15 season.
“Further details concerning the competition format, marketing and financial aspects of the Rugby Champions Cup will be communicated in October,” it concludes.
