The organisers of the Champions Cup are looking to shift the start of the tournament back to October to add extra impetus to the pool stages. This year’s competition kicked off in December, but there is collective support from coaches and clubs to commence their campaigns before the packed November Test window.
The current structure and calendar slots are technically in place until 2030, but there is growing recognition that a change could be helpful. Among other benefits, clubs would have a better chance of having their best players fit and firing before the autumn internationals which, in turn, could encourage more early season interest.
This could take the form of a single weekend apiece in October and December rather than two consecutive October weekends, but, either way, European Professional Club Rugby insists that interest in the tournament is rising despite criticism of the 24-team, four-pool structure.
EPCR officials say television audiences have doubled in the past six years and that aggregate stadium attendances have also risen by 50%, to about 1.5 million, over the same period.
While the tournament’s image has suffered from clubs picking weakened teams for high-profile pool games away from home, complex travel logistics to and from South Africa and Leicester and Bulls making the last 16 despite winning one of their four pool games, EPCR’s chief executive, Jacques Raynaud, claims the formula is bearing fruit.
“The format is delivering when you look at how few dead-rubber games there are,” he said. “We have a compelling tournament with a stable format that is delivering what we wanted: jeopardy, increasing audiences, increasing fan engagement.
“It does tick a number of boxes when you look at the data and the number of people coming to the stadiums. We’ve got the best attendances in the Champions Cup since Covid and we have also had a 50% increase in digital fan engagement so I’m not just sugar-coating it.”
The sport's first professional female referee, Sara Cox, has stepped down from refereeing international games but will continue to be involved in club rugby. Cox was centrally contracted by the Rugby Football Union in 2016 and has gone on to oversee 51 Tests, including at last year's Women's World Cup.
"I feel very privileged to have officiated at the highest level of the global game for over a decade," Cox said. "Rugby has given me amazing experiences but after the high of a home World Cup, now feels like the right time to hang up my international boots and spend some time on other interests while continuing to give my all to the club game." PA Media
“I know there are opinions out there that it could be more elite, but it’s still delivering fantastic rugby on superb stages. The knockout stages are box office, the numbers are great. There’s constant work to refine the format [but] it’s been stabilised and people understand it. Remember our job is not only to provide cheese and dessert. We have to lay on a great compelling tournament from a sporting fan side and also have a financial formula that is liked by TV, sponsors and host cities so we can maximise the money we’re generating for the club game.”
Raynaud does concede, though, that an earlier start would help, as would a bigger gap between the last 16 and quarter-finals to allow more time to sell tickets and assist travelling fans.
“It is likely we will go back to an October start,” he said. “That’s not confirmed, but it’s a desire. A lot of people liked it because it corresponded more to the narrative around the start of the club rugby season. Coaches like it because it builds into the Test matches.
“The question is do we do blocks of two weekends or one, one and two. The other thing is that we don’t want to confuse people by starting in October one year and not another because of the World Cup. We’re just fine-tuning that, but it is a request from the leagues and from many clubs.”
