Heineken Cup ‘too important’ to throw away, warns Penney
Penney is convinced that the warring parties can step back from the brink and secure the future of Europe’s premier club rugby competition.
He reasoned: “The competition is too important to Europe for anyone to want to establish something new. Whatever happens, it will still be a great competition, because the people who are moving and posturing will understand the level of importance of its current status and they won’t (surely) be willing to undermine that in any way.”
Munster may have a special love affair with the tournament but Penney insisted that all competing sides “embrace it”.
“I just think the history Munster has in it has been exceptional, to that end. It highlights the relationship that Munster has with (wanting to be) the European champions. I think they all embrace it and all the clubs around it would love to be part of the business end of that competition.”
Penney was non-committal on what, if any, changes he would like introduced. However he noted development and evolution are key components of successful rugby in the professional era.
“I don’t really have an opinion (on changes). I think that’s crystal ball gazing into the future... let’s wait and see what comes out of the competition discussion in the next month or so. I’m sure that people making those decisions will be very cognisant of the fact we need to be sure that all European rugby teams are catered for and they want the best teams there at the business end.
“It would be remiss of them not to look back at the history and the impact Irish rugby teams have had on that competition.”
He added: “The one thing I would say is coming from the southern hemisphere is there has been multiple changes to all of our key competitions in the last 10 or 15 years based on the learnings and the pressures imposed of professional rugby. So the national provincial championship is no longer exactly the same, in fact it’s had three alterations in the last 10 years. Super 12 went to Super 14, now it’s Super 15 and they are talking about changes in two years again.
"What was the Tri-Nations is now the Championship. So nothing lasts forever and the professional game has only been around for such a short period and there is a lot of adjustment to be made before we get any longevity on terms of stability. As long as people have the best interest of the game in the forefront of their thinking when competitions are been developed, then that’s a good starting point.
"The promotion, publicity and player development that comes with a great elite competition like the European Cup, people would be... well, all those discussions will be taking place and they won’t be throwing the baby out with the bath water.”
Penney has more immediate issues to prepare for, with Munster heading for Italy for two RaboDirect Pro12 matches against Zebre and Treviso over the coming week. Paul O’Connell and Conor Murray are again rested after the exertions with the Lions while BJ Botha is still out through injury.
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