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'Commercially, it has been a disappointment... lots of reasons for that'
Simon Halliday has admitted that the European tournaments run by EPCR haven’t been the soaraway commercial success people envisaged they would be.
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The Swiss-based organisation fully took over from the Dublin-based ERC in 2015/16 following a 2014 civil war that resulted in English and French clubs breaking up the old set-up in the hope of generating additional finances.
A shared title sponsorship model was at the forefront of plans to increase revenues, but that ambition didn’t work out and the Champions Cup – which this season begins on Friday night with Gloucester hosting Toulouse at Kingsholm – reverted last term to a single title sponsor Heineken, who used to be the single title sponsor of the old ERC European Cup.
Heading into his fifth season as chairman, former England international Halliday told RugbyPass: “Onfield, we have made a lot of good improvements. We have hosted good finals, we have changed one of the criteria so Benetton qualified by right this season, we developed free-to-air where there wasn’t any and brought it to more people.
“Commercially, it has been a disappointment. Lots of reasons for that. The rebranding takes time.
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“Secondly, a lot of sponsors have gone from being global into being pan-Europe, even local, so the way they allocate their money has changed, the way people look at traditional sponsorship has changed. Look what happened with Six Nations, for example.
“And our domestic, I keep saying to people our domestic stakeholders [the clubs] are much stronger now than they were five years ago, so people can get exposure to rugby through our stakeholders as much as they can through us.”
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With the 2015 World Cup hosted in England, the 2015/16 Champions Cup took quite a while to arouse much interest. However, Halliday doesn’t believe there will be any spectator fatigue heading into 2019/20 due to the latest World Cup being played in Japan.
How will English clubs fare in Europe this season, a Champions Cup campaign that starts with Gloucester hosting French champions Toulouse on Friday night? https://t.co/n4tMsbUs3h
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 15, 2019
“You’d like to think so. Not just because a lot of northern hemisphere stars will be playing but a lot of the southern hemisphere stars play in Europe so once they are recovered from their rest periods, you would like to think that they will get involved and we will continue with that momentum.
“After the last World Cup the tournament took a while to get going because there was only so much that people could take on board, but I think the tournament is vastly improved from where it was four years ago in its format and the teams are very, very strong so yeah, there is real excitement still.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
smith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
36 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
36 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
36 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
36 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
36 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
36 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
36 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
36 Go to comments