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+1LeRouxIsPHat wrote:Maybe a correct call shouldn't impress me so much but I have to say I thought the penalty that cancelled out the Racing try at the lineout was a great call from the AR. Can't have been easy to go back a reasonably long time to an incident that the ref had missed (I think?) and torpedo the crazy celebrations that were going on.
Yet, in Munsters and Glasgow case, they almost always are, and for the entirety of celtic league history.Andy Howell@andyhowellsportMar 30
Quickly examined some of Champions Cup quarter-final line-ups and there's no way Glasgow, Edinburgh or Munster should be better than Blues, Ospreys or Scarlets
blockhead wrote:Saw this tweet from a Walesonline Jurno.Yet, in Munsters and Glasgow case, they almost always are, and for the entirety of celtic league history.Andy Howell@andyhowellsportMar 30
Quickly examined some of Champions Cup quarter-final line-ups and there's no way Glasgow, Edinburgh or Munster should be better than Blues, Ospreys or Scarlets
Why be excited about new players when there's a struggle to hold onto them before they've even established themselves.Ruckedtobits wrote:The juxtaposition of Dan Leavy's horrific injury coupled with the confirmation of Jack McGrath's departure to Ulster has ensured a strange sense of ennui among Leinster supporters.
There is little euphoria about advancing to a European Semi-final, even a home venue. There is no enthusiasm about our upcoming home games against Treviso and Glasgow in the Pro14. There is but a tiny sigh of relief that Robbie Henshaw and Dev Toner are returning after long injury absences.
The Leinster Management have normally had to quell the over-optimism of the fans at this stage of the Season. This time around, it's probable that their task will be to lift the spirits.
Injuries and departures are part of our sport but, this time around, the combination feels so unfair.
Champions Cup: Tottenham will host rugby final ‘some day’ but South Africa and Italy among future options
Marseille play hosts this weekend, while next season’s two finals are in Dublin after Tottenham Hotspur had to withdraw
European club competitions director Mark McCafferty has told i he believes English teams can win the Heineken Champions Cup again soon, while promising the “new strategy” for the tournament will include a future final in Italy, with other possible venues including Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and South Africa.
McCafferty was prominent in English rugby during a 14-year stint as chief executive of the Premiership up to 2019, but he now has a wider role as an independent director of European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) – the organisers of the Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup – and as an advisor to rugby investors CVC, alongside being chairman of Warwickshire Cricket Club and other non-sporting directorships.
No English club reached this season’s semi-finals in the Champions Cup or Challenge Cup, with this weekend’s finals being Leinster-La Rochelle and Toulon-Lyon respectively.
“These things go in cycles and the beauty of European rugby is the margins are getting finer and it is incredibly difficult to win,” McCafferty said.
“I don’t think Leicester are that far off, Saracens are not that far off and look at Harlequins, they could well have been in the mix with a home quarter-final. You get doom and gloom but I don’t think the top three or four clubs in England are off the pace.”
Dublin will host next season’s two finals after Tottenham Hotspur had to withdraw, and McCafferty said: “Someday, Tottenham will be a fantastic stadium to do it in.
“That doesn’t for one second mean we have lost the ambition – quite the reverse. People do want to go to other places, because it is different, and being different is part and parcel of what Europe is about. We’d all like to see a final go to Italy, I am sure that will happen.
“There is another country [South Africa] coming onto the scene so that one day will be an option. But also places like Germany, Spain again [after Bilbao in 2018], and Holland: we’ve got a deep connection with Heineken going back a long time and it’s very accessible to all of mainland Europe and UK and Ireland.”
Other ideas in the mix include EPCR offering supporters travel-and-tickets packages, and while next season will not include two-legged ties, McCafferty believes two legs could return in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, and he would like to see completely neutral semi-finals – with a value in those semi-finals in one year being at the same venue as the previous year’s final.
McCafferty’s EPCR role also includes negotiating with Super Rugby Pacific on the hoped-for World Club Cup – a decision on which, he said, is likely this autumn.
“I hear a lot of people saying has Europe lost some of its mystique, some of its shine,” McCafferty said. “And I think the answer is yes, it has done for a while. The Covid period was an immense challenge.
“And in each of the three leagues [Top 14, Premiership, URC], the prestige of winning them has gone up, and Europe has stood still a bit, with probably the exception of the Irish who are so invested in the Heineken Champions Cup. We really, really want Welsh rugby to be stronger, if we can help that in any way.
“Certainly the bigger clubs are looking for other platforms to constantly develop their brand and fan interest. There are at least half a dozen clubs in France who seriously want to win the Champions Cup; six or seven years ago, it was two or three.
“This coming weekend, there will be close to 100,000 people across the two finals in Marseilles, which will be brilliant. Frustrations come and go, but I don’t think they are enduring, quite the opposite. [We have a] new management team, with Dominic McKay as chairman, new strategy, new deal, post-Covid – it will all fire the engines up.”
Completely agree.
A summary of this tournament, starts in 2025 every 4 years. Top 4 in each Heineken Pool go into with top 7 from Super Rugby and Japanese champions.paddyor wrote: ↑July 20th, 2022, 7:38 pm Club world cup from 2025
https://www.ultimaterugby.com/news/rugb ... ort/646641
Canning the knock out stages of the HCC for this.....
The blueprint for a new ‘Club World Cup’ is understood to have been agreed with a tournament involving the top 16 sides from the northern and southern hemispheres scheduled to start in 2025, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
Under the bold proposals eight northern hemisphere clubs and seven from the southern hemisphere, plus a Japanese side, would be placed in four pools, each playing two matches against teams from the other hemisphere. The winner of each pool would progress to the semi-finals ahead of a final to crown the best club side in the world.
The competition, which would take place instead of the knockout rounds of the Champions Cup and see the Premiership final brought forward to early May, would happen once every four years ahead of a British and Irish Lions tour.
The format is understood to have been endorsed by key stakeholders, including Premiership Rugby and representatives for players. Discussions have now moved into the final stage, with talks including due diligence, commercials, and detailed travel plans expected to be concluded in September.
It is hoped that the prospect of the likes of Leicester, Saracens, Exeter, Leinster, Munster, Toulouse and La Rochelle taking on the Crusaders, Hurricanes and Reds will drive interest in the club game to a new level and provide a much-needed financial boost following the impact of the global pandemic.
“This is going to be massive for the club game and should generate huge interest from supporters, sponsors and broadcasters in both hemispheres,” said one source. “For the first time we are going to be able to declare which side is the best in the world.”
The plan is for the tournament to start in 2025 to avoid a clash with next year’s World Cup and the proposed new Nations Championship that is currently under discussion as part of global calendar talks. That competition is expected to start in 2024 and be held every two years.
The Premiership is expected to finish early in May 2025 to allow the Club World Cup to take centre stage as a lucrative finale to the season. It is expected to be held in European locations (which are yet to be confirmed) for the first tournament and future competitions may be held in one country, for example South Africa.
Qualification will be through the pool stages for those clubs that qualify for the Champions Cup, which from next season will also include the South African franchises, who will be regarded as ‘northern hemisphere’ sides.
The top eight sides after the first four rounds of the Champions Cup will qualify for the new tournament, with the lack of European knock-out stages ensuring it does not add extra fixtures to the season.
It is thought that qualification will be purely on merit, with no national representation guaranteed. With no Premiership club reaching the semi-finals of the Champions Cup last season, questions will be asked about how competitive the English clubs will be, given that the introduction of the South African sides will intensify competition.
However, the reduction of the salary cap to £5 million last season has affected the competitiveness of the English club but with it due to rise back to £6.4 million in 2024, there is optimism within the clubs that they will be in a stronger position for the start of the global tournament.
Leicester won the Premiership final but failed to reach the latter stages in Europe
Leicester won the Premiership final but failed to reach the latter stages in Europe Credit: GETTY IMAGES
From the southern hemisphere, the top seven sides from Super Rugby will qualify along with one other international club team, most likely from Japan.
The commercial interests will be shared as part of a joint venture, with broadcasting rights to be sold in the domestic markets as well as international rights, and it is expected the revenues will significantly exceed those lost by replacing the final stages of the Champions' Cup.
Those sides who drop out of the competition at the round of 16 could then drop down into the European Challenge Cup, with that tournament's knock-out stages to be held at the same time.
Organisers hope staging the competition in a British and Irish Lions year will also heighten interest in rugby union ahead of the tour of Australia and the knock-out format should ensure that more players are available for early release to provide more preparation time for the tourists.
It is understood that Mark McCafferty, the former Premiership Rugby chief executive, has been a central figure in driving the project forward in his role as a non-executive director on the board of EPCR, the governing body of the Champions’ Cup. McCafferty was one of the first to back the idea of a world club championship during his 14-year tenure at the helm of the Premiership.
“Progress is being made on the international front north and south but this is a chance for club rugby to get in there first and get things sorted and set the tone,” said another source.
And the 4 from Europe could include a SA or two!heno wrote: ↑July 21st, 2022, 4:39 am Who decided on 8 v 7+1?
One competition has 24 teams from 6 countries (not incl Italy)
The other has 11 teams from 2 countries (not incl Fiji).
So without stretching believability too much, we could have
4 nz
3 aus
1 jap
4 sa
And 4 from Europe? 2 or 3 probably France.
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