From Dublin to Durban: New-look Heineken Cup prepares for takeoff

With three South African sides added this season, long flights and absurd contrasts will be part of the package

HOLDERS: Jules Favre of holders La Rochelle with the Champions Cup. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

THIS season’s Heineken Champions Cup makes even the enlarged Eurovision Song Contest feel like a parochial concept. 

This weekend alone there are opening‑round games in such wildly disparate locations as Pretoria, Durban, Brentford and Le Havre, involving almost absurd contrasts in temperature and altitude.