Rugby’s Champions Cup is broken. But a solution is coming ...0

Looking across the weekend in the Champions Cup, there was plenty to enjoy and admire: big crowds in big stadiums with lots of tries by fabulous players.

What emphatically is not working in this competition is the lukewarm attitude of many English and South African teams, which is a problem because their markets, along with the one in France, dominate what rugby’s power brokers have begun to call “the Atlantic timeline” (because they need a more accurate description than “northern hemisphere” or “Europe”).

There were no South African sides in the Champions Cup’s last 16, while English clubs showing varying degrees of commitment suffered a series of painful exits: Leinster 62 Harlequins 0, Toulon 72 Saracens 42, Glasgow 43 Leicester 19, and Toulouse 38 Sale Sharks 15.

It speaks to fundamental problems with the self-styled “best club competition in the world” – so is there a way to square this circle, and revitalise, or even ultimately replace, an event which as the original Heineken Cup had huge impact and cachet when it was created at the outset of professional rugby union, 30 years ago.

Organisers could keep tinkering with the schedule, or the rules, although there was nothing they could do, for instance, about Saracens resting their five main England players.

But a more intriguing clue to the solution lies in the plans for the first World Club Cup in two years’ time.

Also known behind the scenes as the Super Champions Cup, it is being plotted as a bumper, uninterrupted showdown across four weekends at the end of the 2027-28 season, in June 2028.

The most trailed line-up is eight teams coming through from the Champions Cup, joined by seven from Super Rugby Pacific (the best of New Zealand and Australia), and one from Japan Rugby League One – although The i Paper understands organisers are also looking at a 10-six split, or nine-seven.

With the first edition to be hosted in Europe, the Champions Cup teams would each have two home matches in a mini pool stage, followed by the semi-finals and a final in one stadium – a traditional location like Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium or Dublin, Paris or Cardiff, or a breakout venue such as Milan’s San Siro or Madrid’s new Bernabeu.

If the stakeholders sign off the World Club Cup in the next few weeks, the tender process for the first semi-finals and final would start straight away.

1 – The number of English teams to make it through to the quarter-finals

Insiders believe markers such as digital engagement would be up to 40 per cent higher than for the Champions Cup, which last season was reckoned to be worth a low seven-figure sum to the winners, Toulouse.

And the most significant element could be the concerted big finish to the season.

Not just because it ties in the club calendars in the northern and southern hemispheres and at long last creates the missing link in the global season.

But also, if it is a runaway success it might be an argument to do away with the Champions Cup pool stage that contributes to English frustration with clashes between club matches and England player release, while causing South African teams difficulties with travel.

The leagues of Premiership, United Rugby Championship (URC) and Top 14 – who own the Champions Cup through European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) – could be free to play through the rump of the season, interrupted only by the autumn and Six Nations Tests.

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Form would be more rewarded if the likes of Bath, currently at the top of the Premiership, progressed to the end-of-season showpiece rather than qualifying from their efforts in the previous season, while the dynastical likes of Leinster and Toulouse would remain confident of being involved.

Don’t forget, lurking in the background is the rumour of a breakaway league, with players reported to have signed non-disclosure agreements linked to playing for new franchise teams, different from their clubs.

So competitions like the Champions Cup may need to adapt to stave off the threat.

With only Northampton Saints to represent England in this season’s quarter-finals next weekend, the accusation is not that standards of skills, coaching and conditioning are lower in the Premiership.

It is more a lack of strength in depth, evident in benches stocked with lesser quality, whereas Leinster can afford star signings Jordie Barrett, RG Snyman and Rabah Slimani, and French clubs have bought top England operators like Owen Farrell, Jack Willis, Kyle Sinckler, Jack Nowell and Dave Ribbans.

If the Premiership continues with a salary cap and a guiding principle of everyone can beat everyone on their day, they will struggle to get teams into the final.

Alternatively, we may see a growing divide or even schism in English club rugby, between those who want to spend big – the likes of Bath, Sale and Saracens – and the rest.

The World Club Cup is envisaged by EPCR and Super Rugby for 2028, 2032 and 2036, and with all the above pressures growing, it may just put the Champions Cup permanently in the shade.

Jacques Raynaud, chief executive of EPCR since 2023, told The i Paper: “Apart from Toulouse, Leinster and maybe Crusaders, there are not many teams that have a really international, worldwide branding, with all due respect for their work and for their tradition. 

“Elevating the Champions Cup to a global stage, every four years, you are able to conquer new fans and, from a narrative perspective, answer the question ‘who’s the best rugby club in the world?’

“That’s the vision: it’s to answer that question which nobody knows.”

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