European Cup Will Go Ahead Says Erc

Following a crisis shareholder meeting, the organisers of the European Rugby Cup
have announced that the club rugby tournament will go ahead next year involving
teams from all six participating nations.

No details have as yet been revealed as to the exact structure of the
tournament and which clubs will be taking part.

The European Rugby Cup has been in chaos for the last few weeks after first
the French clubs and then the English announced they would not take part in next
season’s tournament over a row over voting rights.

Premier Rugby, the organisation which represents the 12 English Premiership
clubs, had refused to back down unless the RFU agrees to its demands for a 50%
shareholding in the Heineken Cup.

It is unclear as to whether the crisis meeting brought about a resolution to
this issue with an ERC statement only reading ‘the structure of the tournament
will be agreed by the ERC board in the coming weeks.’

RFU chairman Martyn Thomas confirmed England’s National League One clubs
could fill the gap if the Premiership teams could not be persuaded to return.

‘We are going to ensure that English sides play in Europe next year,’ he
said. ‘RFU chief executive Francis Baron met the National League One clubs on
Tuesday and it was a very positive meeting. It’s very early days though. They’ve
explained that they need to know the situation as soon as possible because of
their season structure for next season.’

Premier Rugby said before the Dublin meeting that they would put forward a
proposal for an expanded competition, with the number of teams increased from 24
to 36.