Browne blasts methods of rebels

The chief executive of the IRFU, Philip Browne, has blasted the sabre-rattling of English and French club rugby chiefs while the future of the Heineken Cup continues to be discussed, describing their contradictory actions as “deplorable”.

Bosses of the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) and Premiership Rugby have blocked the formulation of a new ERC Accord that would see the current European competitions continue after the 2013/2014 season, due to disagreements over the share of revenue, how teams qualify and scheduling.

On Tuesday, the malcontents announced they would be forming a tournament of their own for English and French clubs. That sparked fears the Heineken Cup would be no more at the end of this season or, at best, would become diluted and irrelevant.

A statement issued after yesterday’s scheduled ERC meeting in Dublin expressed surprise at the previous day’s announcement and reiterated the commission’s role as sole administrative body for any European competition.

It also revealed a meeting to continue negotiations will be held soon, with the LNR and Premiership Rugby “reaffirming their commitment to the process” yesterday.

That reaffirmation wasn’t enough to appease Browne, however, who made his views on the methods of the clubs in England and France very clear.

“We get one message in the boardroom and another message is broadcast in the media” said Browne. “I find it a deplorable way to do business. It’s a very fluid situation and in my view, it will continue to be fluid for some time.”

That suggests while a Heineken Cup including all ERC stakeholders is still alive, there remains some way to go before its future is assured.

Earlier in the day, Rob Kearney predicted the potential loss of theestablished tournament and the commencement of a new breakaway competition would be “detrimental” to rugby in this country.

The Ireland and Leinster full-back admitted such a move could lead to an exodus of the country’s top players.

“There’s no doubt about it that if the English and French clubs aren’t in the Heineken Cup it’s going to be detrimental to the game,” said Kearney at the announcement that he is taking over from Jonathan Sexton as chairman of players’ union, IRUPA.

“It will have knock-on effects to the Six Nations if guys are just playing in their league without any step-up to European level.

“Come Six Nations time you’d expect that the standard of rugby is going to be diminished a bit.

“So, something does need to happen about it. It would be a huge blow, particularly for Irish, Scottish and Italian sides.

“If the French and English do have their own competition they’ll get a pretty high standard with it whereas it’ll just be like another RaboDirect League for our side of the competition.”

The only solution, he feels, would be for the provinces to join the new tournament, even if their influence off the field will be reduced.

“I think you’d have to, absolutely. Although it may not be under the Heineken Cup or the ERC, we want to be playing in the big competition with the best teams under the big TV deals, filling out stadiums and so on. That’s what benefits the game and we want to play in those big matches and occasions.

“If it does go through and we do end up linking up together, at least we’ll still have a competition with the same countries involved and where the standard of rugby is still high.

“That’s what people want to see, that 80 minutes on the weekend where they get to watch some really good teams playing against each other and if we do get to that scenario then we will be holding on to the important thing and that is good, competitive rugby.”

IRUPA chief executive Omar Hassanein revealed that he has had numerous discussions with the IRFU surrounding the current situation in Europe and agreed with Kearney that the loss of the Heineken Cup could be disastrous for the game in this country.

“I think it’s a risk for all stakeholders in the game” said Hassanein.

“There’s no doubt about that. The game relies on its revenues. Broadcast deals would be the major one and sponsorship deals. Gate takings would be affected too.

“Then the knock-on effect is that the players and provinces are all part of the game so we’re obviously very conscious of what’s going on out there.

“We’ve had a range of discussions with Philip Browne over the course of the year in relation to the ERC developments and it all seems to be coming to a head now so we’ll see how that progresses.”