Twickenham chief Ian Ritchie holds last-ditch talks to save Heineken Cup

Ritchie fears that 18 years of European club rugby could come to an abrupt end

to the benefit of no one, and to the harm of the Six Nations.

Top of the agenda of the meeting will be governance and negotiation of

commercial contracts after the Premiership Rugby last month reiterated its

refusal to enter into any competition run by ERC.

Ritchie has been in constant contact with the English clubs over the past week

and the Welsh regions are also expected to be represented.

The plan for a new tournament to be governed by the Six Nations Board, which

appeared to have won consensus before the French Federation opposed it, is

likely to be back on the table.

The French Federation would prefer a greater role for Fira, the administrative

body for rugby in Europe, but that is unlikely to gain support within the

home unions as it could undermine the Six Nations.

Also likely to be key is the position of the French clubs, who had initially

supported Premiership Rugby’s plans for the Rugby Champions Cup to replace

the Heineken Cup.

The French clubs have previously said they would not participate in a European

Cup without the English and want next season to be a transition year before

the tournament is run by a “Uefa-style” governing body.

Ritchie’s belief that a deal is within touching distance stems from the fact

that so much was agreed at the meeting of the stakeholders in October,

including tournament format, meritocratic qualification and financial

share-out.

Any deal, however, would have to overcome a major broadcasting issue.

The English clubs have a deal with BT Sport while ERC has a contract with Sky

Sports.

The deepening crisis in Wales adds yet another layer of complexity.

The Welsh regions, who had supported the Rugby Champions Cup, are now pursuing

an Anglo-Welsh tournament next season as their row with the Welsh Rugby

Union over funding next season intensifies.

The regions are refusing to sign a new participation agreement with the WRU as

they claim they would be worse off under the distribution of funds from the

RaboDirect Pro12 and the new European tournament proposed for next season.

Regional Rugby Wales, the umbrella organisation for the four regions, has

called for an independent inquiry into the way broadcasting and competition

revenue is negotiated and distributed and has made representations to Welsh

MPs.

Stuart Gallacher, RRW’s chairman, resigned from his positions on the ERC and

Pro 12 boards this week, heightening speculation that the regions were

preparing to join the English Premiership.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/24443290

Twickenham chief Ian Ritchie holds last-ditch talks to save Heineken Cup