ERC tempts Irish provinces with away day move
Competition organisers European Rugby Cup (ERC) had been hoping to break new ground this season with Saracens playing their pool game against Biarritz in Cape Town, but yesterday’s cancellation due to a local disagreement over venues in the South African city should not deter Munster or Leinster from pursuing opportunities to capitalise on their strong brands, with a large expatriate community in many countries around the world and millions more with strong ancestral links to Ireland.
The Ireland team’s remarkable support during the recent World Cup in New Zealand has underlined the potential of such a venture for both two-time champions and ERC chief executive McGrath told the Irish Examiner that the provinces were welcome to explore the possibilities for his organisation’s consideration.
“I think there’s potential for that sort of opportunity,” McGrath said of an Irish away day. “I think the important thing is that we’re seeing the clubs recognise the value in the events themselves but they have to manage their own inventory of games and be sure that they can deliver high quality performances all the time.
“So that comes first and if the club was to consider an opportunity, of course, in the future, we’d give it serious consideration. Where and how that would happen we’d have to wait and see because clearly we’re all bound by a season structure which places limitations.
“So we have to be very clear and very sure that we’re not interfering with the integrity of the tournament.”
McGrath had said the ERC board would only investigate the possibilities for further overseas games once it had carried out a full review of the intended January 14 game in Cape Town but the path could now be clear for an Irish province to test the waters, with the ERC chief executive saying he welcomed suggestions from them for a potential overseas game.
“We’re looking to drive it on from here but for us, global doesn’t mean geography. It means in terms of the thinking, of doing things differently and presenting what we believe now is a very substantial, valuable franchise and presenting it with the core brand values we have — of being the best, always being premium. Once we stick to those, we’re delighted to hear clubs seeing the opportunity to make the tournament work for them.
“Remember that the clubs, for all the pool games, they get the benefit of the gate. So if they’re doing things which are helping their brand, for them to get more sponsorship, get more fans, we’re going to support that because it’s in our interest.”
Munster have ventured overseas before, playing pre-season games against the US in 2007 in Chicago, and a year later in East Hartford, Connecticut, winning both games. London Irish have already announced their intention to tap into the American market with a possible game in Boston at Fenway Park, while Wasps played Harlequins in Abu Dhabi last season in an LV= Cup match.
An overseas Heineken Cup game would be the litmus test for ERC, though, and any side taking up the challenge in Saracens’ wake would be pushing an open door with Heineken Cup hierarchy.
“I guess their thinking was to look at different things in a different way,” McGrath said of Saracens’ plans. “That’s right up our street. We’ve been to Spain, we’ve been to Switzerland, we nearly got to Brussels to play a game.
“This one was different, in the southern hemisphere and that presented different challenges and we had to consider the principle of that. But commercially it was an easy one for us because if we consider ourselves to be the best tournament... it’s clear that our ambition is European competition, global ambition. So we’ll be looking at ways we can develop our reach as a tournament and that may involve other events outside of Europe.”
SARACENS have scrapped plans to play their home Heineken Cup game against Biarritz in Cape Town.
The Premiership champions say the group game, scheduled for January 14, will now take place in London because of a row in South Africa over the venue. Sarries hoped to stage the fixture at Cape Town Stadium, built for the 2010 soccer World Cup. But the Western Province executive committee decided the game should be played at Newlands, Cape Town’s traditional home of rugby. A Saracens statement said: “We have no wish to be a catalyst for conflict between the City of Cape Town and the Western Province Rugby Union... Saracens looks forward to playing a competitive match in Cape Town as soon as local circumstances allow.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
