The Sunday Telegraph's Paul Ackford ponders the failure of England's leading clubs to make an impact on this season's Heineken Cup.
"There’s something else that Mark McCafferty [Premiership Rugby chief executive] feels strongly about. He, along with a number of senior figures among the French and English clubs, believes the current qualifying arrangements for Europe’s premier competition are flawed, and that the prospects of the French and English representatives are being unfairly skewed by a cosy Celtic-Italian coalition.
"Put simply, English and French Rugby Union teams have to bust a gut to qualify from their respective domestic leagues while any old middling outfit can get through from the RaboDirect Pro 12, a new name for an old sinecure, the Celtic alliance plus Italy. McCafferty and friends are so peeved about the perceived inequality that they are making, strong representations to European Rugby Cup Ltd, the organisation that runs both European tournaments.
“Our view is that Heineken Cup qualification should be based on league form,” McCafferty explains. “There are three of those – the Aviva Premiership, the Top 14 Orange in France and the Pro 12 – and you should take the qualifying teams from the best sides in those leagues. Then it’s a completely meritocratic system.
"This season the 24 teams in the six Heineken Cup pools are made up of 11 from the Pro 12, six from France and seven from the Premiership. It should be eight across the board."
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