Fairer format for Europe
I think a few tweaks to EPCR’s one-off 2020-21 Champions Cup format would make it a fairer competition.
Rather than playing a blend of opponents of disparate quality, each team will play all four of their ‘pool matches’ against opponents in a given tier. While Tier Two v Tier Three pairings should be somewhat competitive, Tier One v Tier Four will be less so.
To level the playing field, why not have each team play one opponent from each tier (One to Four) from outside its own league? Two home, two away. With this improved spread of games, one 24-team league table is sufficient to compare the four-match performance of clubs.
Tony O’Mahony, East Stroudsburg, PA, USA