Champions Cup 24/25

Munster have the handiest draw by far here.

Ulster are screwed.

Leinster v La Rochelle, good to see a bit of variety here.

Pool 4 is obviously the weakest. Glasgow really getting the benefits of that league win.

Toulouse and Bordeaux both beat us in France, hard to see us getting wins there. Even getting them in Belfast it's a tough ask.

A big part of this group is going to be determined by the order of fixtures and who the Sharks get at home. If the French teams have to travel there in later fixtures, and they already have qualification sorted, I could see weak teams going and the Sharks picking up surprise points.

Yea we don't play Sharks but what points they pick up against other teams will impact us.

It's a nonsense take by that twitter lad to be honest.

If this is true and the figure is also true then I hope this TV deal serves as a serious reality check for the URC unions that put all their eggs in the European basket to the detriment of their own competition.

All true.

But the URC unions put all their eggs in the Euro basket, and the European cups value is entirely driven by English and French interest. Rather than try to maximise the value of the competition they control, they have always preferred to ride on the coat tails of English and French clubs.

The risk now being that they have exposed themselves to the diminished English and French interest in the competition and as an extension, the significantly diminished value of the TV rights for it.

I would start by making some really basic changes to how the competition is treated by competing unions, by stopping things like:

1. Scheduling test fixtures during league periods
2. Scheduling overseas tours during league periods
3. Allowing players to go play 7s / other junkets during league periods

The URC has a ton of potential, but the only way it'll reach its potential is if it's taken seriously, rather than being treated like something to fill the weeks between European games.

I have to give them some credit, as it has significantly improved the past 3 or 4 years, prior to this the competition was a complete joke. The changes you mention, like stopping during the 6N, have helped for sure. But they can still go further.

In an ideal world, Europe would play second fiddle to the league, rather than the other way round. Or at the very least be seen equally. Getting the URC to this status has to be the goal of all URC unions.