As the tournament has reached a point where it is far easier to get in than it is to get back out again, the organisers should consider opening talks with acknowledged experts in the field. Her Majesty’s Prison Service would be a perfect fit.
England’s “elite” clubs are now in the thick of a scrap for eight qualifying places. Which, with only a dozen teams in the mix, is barely a scrap at all. As Willie John McBride and his “99 call” Lions would have put it: “One in, nearly all in.”
There was more elitism in the Paris Commune. As Nick Cain correctly pointed out in these pages a week ago, the return to a 24-team tournament means the European Cup is no longer restricted to “the best of the best” – a sorry state of affairs, given the rich history of the tournament and its central place in the development of professional rugby.
Next season’s contingent from the PRO14 (or 16, or 18, or however many it happens to be this week) has already been decided: the four Irish provinces, three Welsh regions and Glasgow. Of this bunch, only Leinster, Munster and Ulster managed to win more games than they lost during their domestic campaign. Glasgow? They finished second in ten of their 16 matches – a record that should have seen them dumped in the workhouse for a season rather than invited to the ball.
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