Big Cardiff attendance for launch of tournaments
The European club rugby season kicked off in some style in Cardiff today with the English and Welsh launch of the 2013/14 Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup.
A total of 11 clubs from the two tournaments attended the event at the Millennium Stadium and some of the biggest names in English and Welsh rugby such as Alun Wyn Jones, Chris Robshaw, Jonathan Davies, Dylan Hartley Matthew Rees, Steve Borthwick and Toby Flood were present to lend their support to the start of the 19th European club season.
Speaking at a press conference before the launch, ERC Chief Executive, Derek McGrath, reiterated ERC’s strong commercial performance with the tournaments having generated 520 million euro to the professional game since 1995.
Addressing the current negotiations towards the formulation of a new Accord for the 2014/15 season and beyond, McGrath said: “We stand by our record over the past 18 years of developing these competitions to where they are today. Right now, the Heineken Cup is the most successful club competition in the world that regularly delivers sell-out crowds, huge broadcast audiences and passionate support.
“Last year we delivered 45 million euro to all the stakeholders and that could increase next season by a further 10 million euro based on current relationships and agreements.
“A mix of nations is critical to the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup, but to find a solution there has to be engagement, and also an acceptance from all sides that they will not get everything, and that there will be change.
“ERC wish to encourage everyone back to the table. We absolutely believe that we will only find agreement when we have the engagement of all parties. We have not had that yet despite 15 meetings over the last 15 months. We have had exchanges of positions from all sides, but no negotiations.
“We have been here before, in 1999 and 2007, there is still time and the door is still open to find a solution. All parties bear a responsibility, but my hope is in the tournaments and that common sense will prevail.”
Speaking at the launch, WRU Chief Executive, Roger Lewis, said fans were looking forward to what will be the “next Heineken Cup final in Cardiff and not the last”. He added that the Heineken Cup was the best cup competition in the world and he urged all parties to come together to find a solution that was best for European rugby.
“We believe in qualification for Europe through the RaboDirect PRO12 and we believe in an equitable and fair distribution of the revenues from Europe. A solution can be found if all parties engage,” Lewis said.
ERC will stage further tournament launches in Dublin tomorrow (Tuesday,1 October), Glasgow on Wednesday and Milan next Monday.
What they said in Cardiff
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins captain)
“There is always added excitement with the Heineken Cup. That’s what makes it so special. Games like the wins over Toulouse away and Stade Francais at home will live long in the memory and that’s what the competition is about.”
Nigel Davies (Head Coach, Gloucester Rugby)
“It’s fantastic to be back. The Heineken Cup is such a fantastic tournament and the experience you get from a coaching and playing perspective is second to none. You challenge yourselves against the best teams in the world – certainly some of the best players in the world are playing in European rugby – so it’s a fabulous tournament and it’s great that we’re a part of it.”
Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys captain)
“The Heineken Cup is like a second start to the season with players coming back and a new competition. We’re the perennial underachievers in the Heineken Cup and that’s why we always seem to end up in the pool of death. It’s always going to be a hard pool because the best sides are in this competition.”
