Not too late to save H-Cup, ERC chief tells rebels
Speaking at the official Irish launch of the competition, which starts its 18th and potentially final campaign the weekend after next, McGrath maintained it was not too late to save the tournament, despite Anglo-French bullishness that, having given notice to quit the Heineken Cup at the end of this season, they are willing to institute an alternative pan-European Rugby Champions Cup backed by a rival television rights deal already signed and sealed.
It was no coincidence ERC chose their broadcast partner Sky Sport’s Dublin headquarters at Sky Ireland to stage their Irish media launch, 24 hours after a similar event in Cardiff at which the English clubs had reiterated their frustration with ERC administrators and also their commitment to the rival BT Vision-backed competition.
And despite 15 months of talks and presentations among ERC’s 10 stakeholders, including England’s Premiership Rugby and French equivalent LNR, McGrath said there was still time to get talks back on track.
“We’ve been here before. That’s the important thing to remember,” McGrath said, referring to a 2007 impasse broken at the 11th hour.
“There are new personalities sitting around the table who haven’t been here before. The stakes have gone up, the tournament is more valuable, the game has moved. The danger is greater, the opportunities are greater and the stakes are higher. If we get this right, the success is built. The trajectory of ERC’s growth is on an upward curve and we can satisfy the needs of all the parties.”
Yet he admitted: “There is a real threat. That’s been laid down loud and clear by the English and French clubs. We don’t think it’s in everybody’s interest, including the English and French clubs. Because we don’t believe they have a viable alternative that stacks up.”
With independent, International Rugby Board (IRB)-recommended mediator Graeme Mew appointed to try and broker a solution, ERC are hoping their tournament can be brought back from the brink, although whatever the belligerence of the Anglo-French clubs, the IRB and their respective unions would still have to sanction any new cross-border competition.
ERC reaffirmed their commitment to their broadcast deal with Sky and have questioned the lack of transparency from the breakaway groups regarding how much money is being put up by BT Vision, which signed an all-encompassing deal with Premiership Rugby that covers both the English Premiership and a European competition.
“We’re fully committed to the Sky contract,” McGrath said. “So hands up we’re part of the dispute because we have a properly authorised contract. On the other side, there is a party who say they have a contract that is hard to comment upon because we haven’t seen any detail. So we can’t really comment except to say our partners [commercial] are behind us.
“We are in contact with the [English governing body] RFU, there is activity behind the scenes. They are in a difficult position, they want to support the clubs, but also their unions and the future of European competition.
“They haven’t been privy to the BT deal but they have seen some figures. We’ve made a commitment to Sky so it would be wholly inappropriate to have discussions with another TV company.”
McGrath, who said the previous 15 months had seen “no engagement, no negotiation” between the warring factions, admitted compromise was needed on all sides, underlining Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Roger Lewis’s olive branch to the rebels on Monday that there could be a willingness to tackle major sticking points on the Anglo-French side regarding the introduction of qualification for the Celtic League teams and a redistribution of revenues.
“Let’s get around a table and everyone will get something of what they want. No one will get everything,” he said.
“It may be that we don’t achieve progress in the next few weeks. It may take longer. There’s a two-year process. In 2007, we found agreement at the very last minute. The pressure exists because the game has moved on incredibly. Anxiety exists because of budgets next year, in terms of hiring players. That’s why it’s so critical and the further it moves in the calendar, it grows increasingly frustrating.
“As a sport, we’re not doing ourselves any favours in terms of taking it forward. It would be better if we could do this around the table and not in public.”
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