Champions Cup talking points: can Irish reclaim good old days with new format?
Toulouse's players celebrate with the European Rugby Champions Cup trophy and the "Bouclier de Brennus" trophy. Pic: VALENTINE CHAPUIS/AFP via Getty Images
Has the cosmetic overhaul worked? Well, as with any surgery of that kind it would be rude to be too critical. And yet. For all the fanfare at this time of year as the Investec Champions Cup prepares to kick-off with what looks to be a rib-tickling, bone-crunching showpiece fixture, Bath against La Rochelle under the Friday night lights at the Rec, there is a sense among many rugby followers that things ain’t as good as they used to be. It’s a sure sign of a sport that is on shaky ground when it is constantly meddling with formats.
The same is as true of the international game as it is of the club and provincial game. Inevitably, money is at the root of it and there is no sign of those finances improving with this competition in particular a bellwether of a financially-challenged sport. The original Heineken Cup used to be one of the showpieces of BBC Grandstand’s winter coverage. The rights changed, the broadcasting went from terrestrial to satellite and eventually its market value dropped, So, note to administrators, why no go back to what did work, 6 pools of four, home and away, November, December and January back-to-back weekends and, listen to that strange sound of applause for a thing well done?
How long will it be before Leo Cullen is asked if this is the season that Leinster manage to get the near-miss monkey off their back? The odds are short that it won’t be long and, painful as the enquiry might be, it is a back-handed compliment. There are plenty of teams in this year’s competition who would kill to be in Leinster’s situation – locked and loaded and one of the tournament favourites. Three finals in this decade, three losses, all to French sides, twice beaten by Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle and last year by those aristocrats of the European scene, Toulouse, the six time champions. Leinster have been striving for their own fifth star. Is this to be the year? Why not, although French beasts – and we can add Bordeaux to that mix – lurk menacingly in the undergrowth. Leinster are well-equipped with sizeable assets such as RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett added to the roster. A vibrant European competition needs a resurgence from Munster and Ulster, too, with Connacht also capable of claiming scalps.
The Sharks have, at least, already broken that glass ceiling with their Challenge Cup victory in May over Gloucester at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the first time a non-European team has won silverware. With a South African company, Investec, as the lead sponsor there will be no move to revert to what once was, if for no other reason than simple pounds, shillings and pence. It’s fair to say, too, that misgivings about the seeming anomaly of having South African teams in a northern hemisphere competition have eased with their integration into the United Rugby Championship. The standard of play has improved across the board. The Challenge Cup barely flickers on the sporting radar in these isles so low-profile is it as a tournament so the Sharks breakthrough is no real proof of anything. The European Cup final, though, does have a significant profile. The Bulls, the Stormers and the Sharks all have the credentials to succeed. And good luck to them if they do. But there is something that doesn’t ring right about it were it to come to pass.
It is a sobering thing to contemplate elite-level European competition without Welsh representation, the first time it has happened in this, the 30th edition of the European Cup. The fact that no Welsh side has ever won the trophy is also a remarkably damning reflection of Welsh fortunes at provincial level, all the more so given that the national team has won four Grand Slams in that self-same period. Cardiff were in the very first final in 1996, beaten by, yes, you guessed it, Toulouse, the European front-runners who took the tournament seriously from the first gun, while Llanelli have had their moments down the years with some thrilling escapades while many of us have spent engaging nights, too, in Newport and Swansea. But now, nothing, nada, only gloom and uncertainty. The competition loses so much if it becomes an Irish-French duopoly although the likes of Bath and Harlequins might have something to say about that this and, who knows, maybe even the great Premiership attacking adventurers of this season, Bristol, might show the way to promising things when they kick-off their campaign against Leinster at the Memorial Ground on Sunday. It used to be said that the Italian sides were a soft touch. That sorry mantle now lies with Wales. And the competition, meritocratic as it is, is the poorer for it.
There are some cracking ties to look forward to in this pre-Christmas period, starting at the Rec on Friday night. Bath have won seven consecutive games at home while La Rochelle are not the force they were when winning back-to-back titles. A statement away win would alter that status. Finn Russell as Lions’ starting no.10? These sort of occasions will attract the Andy Farrell notebook. Likewise, Leinster’s trip to Bristol. The Sam Prendergast audition will continue over the coming months. Manager-less Munster can set the tone with victory over Stade Francais at Thomond Park on Saturday evening while Ulster have the toughest gig of all in heading to Stade Ernest Wallon on Sunday afternoon. For all the caveats and reservations, there is plenty to get the juices flowing.
