Sport is never shy of rolling out hyperbole so it was unsurprising to hear the cries of ‘group of death’ rolling around Neuchatel in Switzerland yesterday after the draw for the inaugural European Rugby Champions’ Cup.
Munster and Ulster in particular will feel the white heat of enhanced competition that the reduction from 24 to 20 teams has delivered, being drawn against plenty of big hitters in a format where only the group winner is guaranteed a quarter final place.
Munster drew Saracens as their top seed. Runners up in last season’s Heineken Cup and English Premiership they will be a big challenge on the pitch as well as a big draw off it. ASM Clermont Auvergne and Sale Sharks are also in Group 1.
If Saracens were tough, Ulster got the reigning Heineken Cup and Top 14 Champions Toulon as well as Leicester Tigers and the Scarlets managed by Simon Easterby.
Reward
Leicester got what looks on paper to be the easiest of the draw, reward for having won the RaboDirect Pro 12 last month and securing a top seed position. Castres Olympique and the London duo of Harlequins and London Wasps will be coming to the RDS over the autumn and winter.
While coaching teams will be rueing the hands they have been dealt, their commercial colleagues will be rolling out the ticket and hospitality packages.
“In Kingspan Stadium we believe we have perhaps Europe’s best stadium and we want to have Europe’s best teams playing at it,” said Ulster Rugby CEO Shane Logan.
“That’s the beauty of this competition and that’s the beauty of what we’re trying to create here in Ulster.”
Wembley
There is a chance that the Munster game away to Saracens could be played at Wembley Stadium as has been the case with a number of the clubs recent big games.
“It’s not a decision for us, but all the players love to play in big stadia and in big games and all our games will be big games,” said new Munster Head Coach Anthony Foley.
The draws for the Champions’ and the Challenge Cups were streamed live on the new European Professional Club Rugby site yesterday and new branding for the tournaments was revealed (left).
There was no mention though of new sponsors. Those announcements will come over the coming weeks and we suggested yesterday who some of the up to six brands might be.
The marquee games that the draw has produced, as well as the enhanced TV money coming through from the shared broadcast deal between Sky Sports and BT Sport means that the new era of club rugby in Europe is looking strong.
Negotiation
The pain of its negotiation and arrival will be forgotten by fans over time and there remains a nod to the past with a link on the new website to the European Rugby ‘Archive’ that links to the now mothballed ERC site.
ERC Chief Executive Derek McGrath is staying on until October to oversee the transition of management structures between the old and the new.
The opening weekend of fixtures will take place between October 16th and 19th, suggesting the extension to a four day weekend of matches to enable greater live TV coverage.
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