European Rugby Challenge Cup

salmson wrote: So the format for the 20th-place-in-the-Not-HEC will be decided by a different format than previously proposed....

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7th in Pro12 (assuming the Italian teams continue to suck) plays 7th in Premiership, home advantage decided by a coin toss.

Winner of that is then at home to 7th place in the Top 14.

So all the French need to do to have a 7th club in the top competition is have someone win a European play-off match away.

I'm smelling complete disinterest from our Gallic brethren.

It's the greatest news of the day

The 8th spot was just an illusion : two away matches in a row, with 20% chance to win each, meant 4% to win both and qualify
Whereas now, ok it will be 7th or nothing, but we could have both play-off matches at home, and at least the last one guaranteed

secondary benefit : with the decisive match always at the Celts', huge attendence will be regularly expected, and small-capacity stadium like Scotstoun or Sportsground will be widened in the middle-term! Clan tier-2 here we are!!!

8th spot was within reach with a 4 to 5 point improvement on last season. 7th realistically requires a 15 point improvement which will probably take 3 years to achieve if given the opportunity. This is a very tough league in spite of what the English and French would have you believe. Inspite of improved investment over the last 3 years connacht have failed to reach 40 points. That's how tough it is. Yes the Italians are now both crap ( which is a separate matter and must be addressed by the celtic unions imo) but accumulating points has always been difficult for the bottom 5 teams.

rossie wrote: ......... Inspite of improved investment over the last 3 years connacht have failed to reach 40 points. That's how tough it is. Yes the Italians are now both crap ..............

If the Italians are as "crap" as you suggest there is no reason why we should not pick up all 16 points form the 4 games. With the 12 points we already have, that would be 28 points 'virtually in the bag'. It will be a bloody disappointing season if we can not get at least another 13 points from the other 15 games and therefore breaking the 40 point mark.

OK but think the semi would have been between 7th and 8th of the Guiness pro 12, and then final against anglo-french winner, in the former version

Really this should all have been ironed out before the start of the season but happy to know where we stand at this stage. For all the hype about the new competition (and I think it will be better for some of the changes made), behind the scenes this looks like the FAI running the league of Ireland.

At least we know what we need to do which wasn't the case for most of last season. Top 6 will be tough but that has to be our aim. 7th is doable but it'd be the highest we have ever finished so still a tall order. Really if you are outside the Top 7 you don't deserve to be in the top competition.

A 2nd version has existed after that I'm nearly sure.

It isn't so much about ercc qualification as reaching achievable targets that had recognisable reward attached. If the rumours are accurate then connacht have 2 to 3 years max to justify the extra investment or face cuts. I felt originally that the new system of playoffs ( where 2 pro12 teams qualified) was a great opportunity for connacht as the playoffs were very achievable and gave connacht a show piece opportunity at the end of the season. 7th isn't impossible but it's a long way off anywhere connacht have gotten close to in the past.
And yes four dogs the Italian teams are embarrassingly bad this season.

Anyway ""By modifying the Champions Cup play-off format, we've respected the wishes of the three leagues," said EPCR director general Jacques Pineau.

pinky wrote: Tbilisi Caucasians only lost by 4 away to Rovigo in the "Qualifying Competition" (which basically consists of two two-legged playoffs), so you'd have to fancy them at home in the return leg.
It's impressive enough for an invitational side that can't have been put together more than a few weeks ago.
Might make an interesting trip for Cardiff fans.

www.epcrugby.com/eng/news/28936.php

I'd love to get the Caucasians. I went to Tbilisi earlier this month for the soccer qualifier - and it was the best International away trip I've ever been on - and I've been on a good few. The people, were friendly, the food's lovely, the wine's fantastic, the weather was beautiful, it's easy to get about, it's extremely safe day and night, the scenery's amazing and it's all amazingly cheap. OK, OK you want to know, yep, beer's a euro a pint. The one surprising thing (to me) is how much they really love their rugby. I only met one soccer fan on the whole 4 day trip - but loads of rugby ones. if Tbilisi was a bit easier to get to everyone would be raving about it.

I just wish that they would sort everything out first and then tell us. This new cup is turning out to be a farce with no sponsers yet to be announced.

The Heineken Cup wasn't broken, so why fix it?

Didn't know where to put this so it lands here. Wasps are moving to Coventry from next season. They are finalising the purchase of a 90% stake in the ricoh arena and will play there next season. They have already dropped London from their name this season. They are owned by an irish man and will maintain their training base near London to bypass objections to the move from Northampton and tigers. It's 91 miles from Wycombe.

rossie wrote: Didn't know where to put this so it lands here. Wasps are moving to Coventry from next season. They are finalising the purchase of a 90% stake in the ricoh arena and will play there next season. They have already dropped London from their name this season. They are owned by an irish man and will maintain their training base near London to bypass objections to the move from Northampton and tigers. It's 91 miles from Wycombe.

I would think Moseley and Worcester can't be too happy either. No chance of them renaming themselves as the "Ricoh Dons"?