Cup organisers in urgent review after snow show
Lessons need to be learnt after Sunday’s shambles at Saracens
The organisers of the Champions Cup are to review their procedures for rearranged fixtures at an executive committee meeting in London on Monday. European Professional Club Rugby admits that mistakes were made in rescheduling the match between Saracens and Clermont Auvergne because of the heavy snow on Sunday. It will discuss feedback from the clubs, who were both infuriated by the process.
Saracens and Clermont strongly criticised the handling of the rearrangement, which led to confusion over when the fixture would be played and whether fans would be allowed to attend because of health and safety concerns. The match went ahead at 5.30pm on Monday in front of a paltry 2,000 brave-hearted supporters, with Clermont winning 46-14.
Nigel Wray, the Saracens chairman, described EPCR as “chaotic” and said that his club had lost £300,000 because they had lost a sell-out crowd, while Clermont described the process as “amateurish and absurd”. Simon Halliday, EPCR chairman, admitted the adverse publicity had overshadowed what had been a scintillating weekend of European rugby and that lessons had to be learned from how the rescheduling of the match was handled.
“We are going to review everything,” Halliday said. “There are a lot of things that clearly could have been done better and we need to make sure that we look at it.
“Clermont and Saracens are not just two of our best ambassadors for the tournament but two of the most successful and it was a high-profile fixture, so it was not great to read what has been said.
“There is nothing worse than working through safety procedures when there is no time.
“This tells you that in a season as cluttered as it has become, you have one weather-related problem and the whole thing turns into a really tough assignment.”
Halliday admitted that the severity of the snow had stretched the resources of an organisation that was downsized after the former organising company was overhauled in 2014.
“People need to understand that the process is not perfect yet because it takes a bit of bedding down and it takes a crisis for people to see what is right, what could have been done,” he added.
“We are not going to ignore statements made by people and not going to put our heads in the sand,” he added. “We have heard what has been said and we will get a briefing from both clubs about what went on, and then everyone is going to have an opinion.”