Champions Cup’s success story eroded by model of free-market economics

Something feels out of joint with the European competition after introduction of South African teams and unwieldy format.

Stade Rochelais' Gregory Alldritt lifts the trophy with team-mates after the Heineken Champions Cup final at the Stade Velodrome. Pic: David Davies/PA Wire.

THE Heineken Cup was universally recognised for years as the great success story of the professional era. It is exactly the same age, the first match played on Halloween in 1995, a Tuesday night, on the shores of the Black Sea, when Toulouse beat Farul Constanta of Romania 54-10 in front of two men and a dog.

Within a decade it was being heralded by no less an authority than the Observer as the greatest rugby tournament on Earth. More colourful than regular domestic competitions; more competitive than the World Cup; more teams than the Six Nations or (as was then) the Tri Nations. On the eve of the 10th season, in 2004, the late Eddie Butler described the competition as a “new cultural experience” to rival the Six Nations.