RUGBY:England's Premiership clubs (PRL) and Rugby Football Union (RFU) finally inched towards a Heineken European Cup settlement yesterday as more positive noises emerged from the ERC Shareholders meeting in Dublin.
Following the head-knocking and behind-the-scenes-negotiations between all of the stakeholders in the European Cup, it was crucially agreed that the top tier teams will take part in the competition next season. Although the warring factions of the PRL, the RFU and the International Rugby Board (IRB) have signed a conditional agreement, the wellbeing of the 2007-08 competition is secure.
The critical insert in yesterday's ERC statement after the meeting at the IRB offices in Dublin was that all of the top professional clubs are to be involved in next year's tournament, meaning teams like Leicester, Wasps, London Irish, Stade Francais, Toulouse and Biarritz have come in from the cold. For the non-boycotting unions, yesterday's decision will have brought relief to many clubs and provinces that were bracing themselves for potential financial ruin.
"It was confirmed that the participant teams will be club/provincial/regional teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and in the case of England, France and Italy, club teams from the top professional leagues in each country," said the ERC after the meeting.
That appears to be the deal done and while the parties reaffirmed a commitment to the competition, a concept that was well out of view when both the French and English jumped ship some weeks ago, discussions are ongoing about the nature of the agreement between the PRL and RFU. But those discussions concern final details of an understanding in which fundamental agreement has been reached.
The tone of the statement from the ERC was extremely positive but lacking in detail as to how far apart the PRL and RFU remain, although it did say that bodies must finally agree the details of their arrangement before the European Cup final at Twickenham on Sunday, May 20th.
"An ERC Shareholders meeting took place in Dublin today with IRB Chairman Dr Syd Millar, which included representatives from the six Shareholder Unions and representatives from the club bodies from England (PRL), France (LNR), Italy (LIRE) and Wales (Welsh Regions)," said the statement.
"All parties reaffirmed their commitment to the long-term future of the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup and to providing a stable future for both ERC tournaments.
"The parties reached a conditional agreement, which, on completion of discussions between RFU and PRL over the next two weeks, will ensure the long-term future of both European tournaments and the participation of the leading teams from all six competing nations. All parties are working towards a final agreement by the weekend of the Heineken Cup final."
The conditions do not seem to have any concern for some members of the PRL and in Ireland the feeling was one of relief.
"Is London Irish pleased about the outcome? Yes," said The Exiles chairman John Conlan, who like all of the other club chairmen was kept very close to the negotiating team.
"It is nice to think that we have probably finally done it. We are pleased because this is the right thing for the long term, although there has been a sense of frustration in all of us because this could have been done a long time ago.
"This agreement should now get finalised. I would be very surprised if they put out this sort of statement if there was not principle agreement and I believe that this is the European question resolved.
"What we were not prepared to see was central contracting of the players, although the question of the Long Form agreement, which expires in 2009 is still there. But that, (it deals with the club players who are also in the England squad), should not have been linked to the European issue," he added.
Munster chief executive, Garret Fitzgerald, saw the pragmatic side to the agreement.
"It's commercially very important to all the parties, not just those in Ireland, that the best club tournament in the world should continue as is," he said.
