How Can We Make The H Cup Make Sense?

By razcal
January 23 2003

For those of us who support a team still involved in the Heineken Cup it seems we have just experienced the best pool stage ever. For some other supporters it has been the most disappointing. For others, like Mrs Razcal, it was just plain incomprehensible. Does the whole thing need a few tweaks?

Why incomprehensible? Though the rules for defining the order of pools in which 3 teams finish on an equal number of points were decided long ago they were not widely known. Just ask Mercier.

Though the Munster v Gloucester game was gripping and a great advert for rugby the general confusion about what was needed by who to qualify was a counter blow. My wife still does not understand why Gloucester are still not in it having scored more tries than the teams they finished level with.

This was compounded by some teams kicking off later in the weekend and knowing exactly what they had to do in terms of scoring tries and points in order to qualify. Biarritz v Cardiff was a case in point. Just ask Bourgoin who were eliminated because a team in another pool knew 13 tries would get them past Bourgoin.

As exciting as the BBC televised game was there were other games which had no point, Calvisano v Beziers and Swansea v Montferrand were games between teams already certain of elimination and unable to have a bearing on the finishing order of other teams.

There were fewer mis-matches this year but there were still scores of 80+ ,70+ and 60+. I personally would far rather watch a competitive game than see some team thrashed completely to get as many tries in the other teams tally.

I love the European Cup and not just because Tigers have won it. I went to the first ever European game at Welford Road with a crowd of fewer than 5,000. But I would like to see some changes which improve it and make it look fairer to people unfamiliar with rugby who may be future fans. To sum up we need a way to make qualifying less messy, reduce the mis matches, reduce the number of dead rubbers and stop teams gaining an advantage by playing on Sunday.

One thing which we might inspect is the 6 pools with 8 progressers format. A lot of the shenanigans last weekend was down to this. 8 pools with 8 winners only going through takes away scoring 13 tries and declining conversions to qualify instead of a team which has finished its games as a possibility.

However the final home and away seedings could still be affected. 8 pools of 4 would mean more mis-matches if the 8 new teams were weaker than the weakest teams already in. This would take away 8 teams from the Parker Pen. It would also generate more dead rubbers as teams would have no incentive to finish second instead of third.

However there are 8 teams around we could insert into the competition who are stronger than the weakest teams already in. Ireland and Scotland have one more province each to contribute and England and France have several top flight sides who could compete better than Viadanna. 8 pools could be made up of 8 English sides, 8 from France, 4 from Ireland, 3 from Scotland 2 from Italy which leaves 7 spaces. Wales are investigating reducing to 4 or 5 provinces. So that leaves 2 or 3 places to fill.

Rugby is on the up in Europe. I played against a Spanish side and a Dutch side 21 years ago. We could include Spain Romania and Holland or a Six Nations B team of Barbarians. That would give us new possible destinations to get drunk in and help develop rugby across Europe. A side finishing fifth or sixth in its league one year can be a lot stronger the next.

Last season Stephen Jones claimed Tigers had an easy pool. This easy pool contained 4 teams which all won their respective national leagues and two which met again in the semi final. So admitting extra French and English sides might strengthen the playing standard rather than diminish it.The surprise packages of English rugby last season, Sale and London Irish couldn't cash in on that form in Europe.

Now how to avoid the dead rubber. We have taken 8 teams out of the Parker Pen so lets put 16 back. Teams finishing second and third could drop down into the last 32 of the Parker Pen with the incentive of winning that to qualify for the Heineken Cup the next season. It keeps the income stream going for more clubs for longer.

Now what about who is at home and who away in the quarter finals? Just draw it out of a hat. The only stipulation being that games must be played in stadia capable of holding a certain sized crowd. That creates excitement in the way the FA cup does and makes it a proper cup competition. This would take away the need to score like Biarritz did against Cardiff though tries would still be needed to separate teams finishing equal top of a pool. You would only need games in the same pool to kick off at the same time during the last round.

Other changes I would like to see are firstly careful consideration to Friday games. Getting time off work Monday to Friday is nigh on impossible for me and I bust a gut to get to Neath. I am sure that is also the case for many other people. The distances involved in European games and the desire of fans to get there need to be considered.

The move to name the final venue before the competition starts should be extended to the semi finals then there would be less possibility of the ticketing fiasco we had at Nottingham. 5 or 6 stadia could be named in September and the final 2 selected when the 4 semi finalists are known. The two semis to be played simultaneously to be fair to both sets of fans regarding flights and hotels.

The referee for the final should be named with the venue. Last season a second rate referee was in charge. This was because the best European officials are English and Irish and were precluded from taking the final between an English and Irish side.

Tickets should not go on sale before the finalists are known. I don't wish to cause offence to those on this site who have purchased tickets for this years final but you may well be taking the place of a fan who is desperate to watch his or her side in the one game they ever play in the final. Last year many genuine Leicester fans were left ticketless and I would not want to do that to someone else.

Well. What do you think? Shoot me down in flames if you like but don't say I never talk about rugby.