Champions Cup needs a revamp but a simple one - Andy Goode
I’ve said before that the Champions Cup needs a revamp but the last thing it needs is gimmicks or more games, the organisers have to keep it simple.
The word is that a decision on a new format for the competition will be made relatively quickly and hopefully that means that the straightforward option of reducing the number of teams from 20 to 16 will be the chosen one.
There were 24 teams in the old Heineken Cup and that was cut to 20 when it became the Champions Cup in 2014, creating an even more competitive tournament, but there are still too many dead rubbers as early as Round 3.
Gloucester even went to Montpellier in Round 2 with a weakened team, having lost at home in Round 1. If there were four pools with four teams in each and clubs knew they simply had to finish in the top two to qualify, interest would be maintained for much longer.
That has to be the way to go as the other alternative being mooted whereby there would be six pools with three teams in each (one from the Premiership, one from the PRO14 and one from the Top 14) makes things more complicated.
Then there would be two best runners-up going through instead of three, so that would be more difficult for fans to follow. And, although a shorter pool stage may mean it evens itself out, I just can’t get on board with home and away legs in the quarter and semi-finals.
I played in a two-legged final in the Championship and it was weird. It’s not right when you can lose and then rely on something else next week, or even play for a narrow defeat away from home. It just felt ridiculous.
Potentially introducing it in the Champions Cup smacks of trying to increase revenues at the expense of fans and players and I think it would actually decrease the quality and excitement of the knockout stages.
Knockout rugby is special, knowing how to play it well is an art and that has to be kept to one-off games for me.
I know there will be comparisons to the Champions League in football but it is a very different sport. Apart from the demands on the body, the lower scoring nature of football lends itself better to two-legged ties.
One thing that absolutely has to be ensured is that, whatever changes are made to the format of the competition, there are no games added to the calendar. There are already too many and player welfare must come before everything else.
Moving to four pools of four in the initial stage would help to solve the problems of teams losing interest too early but there is also an issue of not enough fans going to watch the knockout games and the calendar would have to be changed to deal with that.
There are 11 weeks between the end of the pool stages and the quarter-finals, due to the Six Nations, and then four weeks until the semi-finals. An extra week has been added to that gap since last year but it’s tough to sell out those games at big, neutral stadiums with such a short lead time.
The main problem, though, is making sure more teams feel like they have something to play for in Rounds 5 and 6. French clubs have lost interest early on for a long time if things weren’t going their way and English clubs are doing the same this season.
A major reason for that is that the Premiership is so competitive, there are so many games in the calendar and teams like Gloucester, Northampton, Harlequins and Sale just aren’t far enough along in their evolution to be able to compete on both fronts.
However, if they knew that they simply had to finish in the top two in their pool to reach a quarter-final, that may feel like a more achievable target and it would certainly mean that more pools would go down to the wire.
Let’s hope EPCR have heard of the problem-solving principle known as Occam’s razor. The simplest solution is most likely the right one.
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments