Heineken Cup rebels" future is at risk, says European rugby chief

And with McGrath promising that revenues were set to jump by 20 per cent –

£44million to £52million this season, in the first year of a new accord – he

warned that it would be “highly risky” for both the England clubs and their

players to walk away from the Heineken Cup to a “start-up tournament” that

had yet to be approved by the International Rugby Board or the Rugby

Football Union.

“The major difficulty if the English clubs go elsewhere is that the revenues

there are estimates,” McGrath told The Telegraph. “They are

based at most on something from the BT [Sport] contract which nobody has yet

got details of.

“Figures have been talked about of up to €70million to be divided which are

being based upon pure estimates and the only contract at the moment is a BT

contract which itself is a start-up broadcaster and then you will have a

start-up company. It is highly risky for clubs and highly risky for players.

“When you look at the current relationships that we have with the title

sponsor, and all the other sponsors who are in place and want to continue

with us and Sky and Canal Plus, who have already committed to continue

subject to agreement of the new accord, we already know that our revenues

will increase by €10million next year from €52million.

“So you would expect our distributions to go up by 20 per cent in the first

year of a new accord. And if you look at the trajectory of growth that ERC

has had from 2005 and stream it on further, it is high risk to be jumping

away to a start-up that is not approved.”

One of Premiership Rugby’s major gripes has been that the RaboDirect Pro12

receives 52 per cent of the current distribution, while the England and

French leagues receive only 24 per cent each. That is worth £11million this

season before the meritocracy payments that clubs earn by reaching the

knockout stage.

The new Anglo-French initiative is proposing a split of a third each between

the three leagues if other European clubs join them and, with the backing of

the BT Sport deal, Premiership Rugby has promised participants that their

current revenues would be matched.

McGrath, however, said that the main issue, which was beyond ERC’s control,

was how the current funds were distributed in England and France. The

Premiership clubs divide their European revenue between all 12 clubs. In

France, that extends to the Pro D2 clubs.

“We read of clubs in England being not happy about the money they receive but

if Harlequins host a quarter-final and receive let’s say €450,000 – we don’t

decide that the money gets divided 12 ways,” McGrath added.

“We suffer the same in France where the money is divided with the Top 14 and

the Pro D2 clubs. Toulon and Clermont would have generated in meritocracy

[payments] around €2.7million [£2.3million] for France — I understand they

got €200,000 each by dint of the way that they divide the money out.”

Meanwhile, Leinster and Ireland hooker Ireland Richardt Strauss has been

diagnosed with a heart condition and will not play again this season. The

27-year-old South African-born hooker will undergo surgery this week.

Leinster said they expected him to make a full recovery.

Newcastle wing Andy Higgins has been forced to retire with immediate effect

because of a knee injury.

The former England Saxons back had retired in 2009 following accusations that,

along with Bath team-mates Michael Lipman and Alex Crockett, he had failed

to take drugs tests on three occasions. He returned to the game a year later

with Exeter.

Heineken Cup rebels" future is at risk, says European rugby chief