ERC working to ensure Cardiff final not the last

Having hosted the inaugural Heineken Cup final, there are fears Cardiff could now host the last after winning the right to stage next year’s showpiece.

The Heineken Cup will return to its “spiritual home” at the Millennium Stadium next May but the future of the world’s biggest rugby club competition remains in grave doubt.

English and French clubs served notice in June 2012 that they would pull out of the tournament when the current accord ends after next year’s final and little has changed. The Six Nations and British & Irish Lions tours caused an impasse in discussions but pressure will now build on European Rugby Cup Ltd (ERC), the organisers of the Heineken and Amlin Challenge cups, to broker a deal quickly.