HC/Amlin Non-league Qualification

Two schools of thought:

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, or
If you stand still, you stagnate.

My thoughts are that European rugby would benefit from a truly elite exclusive top level club/franchise competition (HC), underpinned by a broad inclusive development competition (Amlin), so I'm in the anti-stagnation camp.

I propose that HC qualification is by merit only, not on nationality, that qualification is by performance in both HC and Amlin, not in the domestic leagues.

There are currently 38 top tier european teams, but only 36 compete in Europe, with bottom 2 of T14 excluded.

HC to be 16 teams, 4 pools of 4. Top 2 pool teams into quarters and retain HC place for next year. Bottom 2 into Plate quarters, with finalists only retaining HC place. So 10 teams retain HC place, 6 drop into next year's Amlin.

Amlin to be 24 teams, 6 pools of 4. Top plus 2 best runners up into quarters (as current HC). All semi-finalists into next years HC, and losing quarter finalists play off for one HC place. Remaining 4 of the pool runners up play off semi's and final for one remaining HC place.

Amlin to comprise all remaining 6N tier 1 teams (except 2 french) plus 1 Spanish, 1 Romanian and 2 Italian tier 2 teams (pretty much as is) with scope for adding Georgian, Russian, German, Portuguese, etc teams, by reducing English, French or Tier 2 Italians, or by adding a pool. Ideally, there should be one "minnow" per pool, and a play-off between them wouldn't go amiss, giving them at least one competitive game after the pool stages in which they would generally be out-classed (at the moment). There may also be the opportunity to introduce Welsh Prem, RFU Champ, etc teams.

The elite retain their place in HC, the not quite so elite get a second chance to retain their HC place while the HC losers find their level in Amlin next year, when they will get a good chance to bounce back. There is interest for all teams beyond pool stages.

Amlin competition is all-inclusive, and is likely to include representatives from all countries, broadening interest, raising standards and increasing commercial viability. There is interest for most top 2 teams beyond the pool stages, and sustained good performances are rewarded with an HC place.

Moneywise, the collective income from both HC and Amlin can be distributed any way the ERC shareholders decide, and need not be linked to appearance in either competition. HC participation will be rewarded by each team's individual sponsorship, bums-on-seats income and an element of prize money. The expectation is that with the Amlin profie being raised, there will also be fairly substantial individual income for the participants.

This frees up the domestic leagues to pursue their own agendas, unfettered by Euro distractions. The only direct disadvantage for the leagues that I can see is that AP lose the competition for 6/7th place leading to more dead rubbers at the sharp end of the season. This could be remedied by copying the French system of top 6 into playoffs, though that adds an extra weekend to the season.


So, does it need fixing?