British and Irish option is Heineken alternative
The new initiative, devised by the English Premiership clubs and backed by the four Welsh regions, is due to be formally presented this week as an alternative to the broken Heineken Cup as run by the Union-controlled ERC Ltd.
Ireland‘s big three – Leinster, Munster and Ulster – have been approached about joining an event believed to be worth £2m per team per season. Talks have also been held with the Scottish teams, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
England’s Premiership clubs refuse to have anything to do with any competition run by ERC and the French are in danger of being withdrawn en masse following their federation president Pierre Camou’s walk-out over plans for the Six Nations to oversee a reunited Europe.
The big French clubs, headed by Toulouse, fear they will be frozen out of Europe by their president’s ultimatum that the future of the tournament is run by FIRA, the French-based, French-influenced association of continental countries who run the second-tier Six Nations competition, the European Nations’ Cup.
The British and Irish Cup will be tabled as a solution to the uncivil Welsh rugby war.
In return for Union support, the regional quartet will re-commit to the Pro12. If there is no Union support, the regions will press full steam ahead to join the Aviva Premiership, a course which seems destined to end up in the High Court.
The British and Irish option is being proposed on a two-tier basis featuring all 24 teams from the Aviva Premiership and the RaboDirect Pro12. The top six from each would be earmarked for the main event with the bottom six from each competing in the secondary competition.
The prospective broadcasters, BT Sport, are understood to have upped the ante significantly just for taking part. The four Welsh regions have been offered £20m over three years – £1m per region per year more than they get for competing in the Heineken Cup.
The English and Welsh see it as a step towards their main goal, the Rugby Champions’ Cup, a two-tier annual Euro event which has been vetoed by the Celts because they refuse to cede commercial control to the clubs.
In an attempt to preserve the British and Irish Cup from the same fate, the English clubs’ Premier Rugby Ltd (PRL), is to hold talks in the next few days with RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie.
All previous attempts to reach agreement on Europe have failed despite English and French clubs having served notice to quit in June 2010. PRL believe clubs outside England are “recognising that ERC is no longer fit for purpose”.
The Unions refuse to budge from their position, that they will keep control of Europe. The WRU says it “remains confident that a European competition under the management of ERC will take place next season”.
Camou flounced from the negotiating table during a meeting of the five national Unions in Dublin in December, angry at the other countries refusing to support his demand for the French-based FIRA to be in overall charge of the European Cup.
The British and Irish wanted it to be overseen by the Six Nations. Camou, 68, a banker from Bayonne, was not the only delegate to leave.
WRU chief executive Roger Lewis also walked out when, according to Welsh sources, the independent chairman, Graeme Mew, of Canada, stated that he had already sought the views of the four Welsh regions.
PETER JACKSON
