ALL QUIET ON THE EUROPEAN FRONT, AT LAST

Peace has broken out in Europe. Not quite at the 11th hour, unlike eight years ago, but this time the conclusion was not inevitable; far from it. Even a few months ago, there was a very real danger that the European Cup would not continue as a six-nation tournament. The actual announcement may have been delayed, but the deal has been done.

If it took the diplomatic skills of Ian Ritchie, the Rugby Football Union chief executive, to pull all the stakeholders back from the brink, the Scottish Rugby Union and the four Welsh regions also played pivotal roles in establishing the new tournament, which will involve three cup competitions.

Once Premiership Rugby and the Top 14 clubs, along with the French Rugby Federation, served notice in the summer of 2013 that they would be pulling out of European Rugby Cup Ltd, the organisers of the Heineken and Amlin Challenge cups, at the end of this season, the revolution started.

There was a sense then, which persisted in some places until a couple of months ago, that the problems would be resolved and that the rebels would cave in and sign a new accord without getting much of what they were demanding.

Where it was different this time was that there was no dispute. The clubs were pulling out of ERC, not trying to renegotiate conditions of membership; the FFR offered its support because it was concerned that all the power in European rugby was based in Dublin and that it was run by, and for the benefit of, the elite rather than the whole game in the continent.

If the alliance between the English and French clubs always looked vulnerable because of French law which gave the federation the authority to rein in the Top 14 sides in matters of national interest, which it did when the two announced plans in the autumn for a Champions Cup to start next season, the compact formed between Premiership Rugby and Regional Rugby Wales when the FFR told its clubs to forget about the new tournament, proved plate-shifting.

The regions were fighting for their survival. They had refused to roll on a participation agreement with the Welsh Rugby Union because, they argued, it would have been financial suicide to do so, and at the beginning of January they were in a lonely place.

By announcing their support for the Champions Cup, allying themselves not only to Premiership Rugby but BT Sport, they found strength in unity. When the RaboDirect Pro 12 unions and France announced plans to continue ERC and the Heineken Cup for at least another season in a tournament England would not be involved in, it quickly became clear that there would be no Welsh ones either unless the WRU formed new ones.

There was division among the Rabo unions. The WRU and the Irish Rugby Football Union argued strongly for ERC to continue, a stance they were maintaining at the end of January, but the SRU took a more pragmatic view. Its board includes independent non-executive directors and they took a business position rather than quoting International Rugby Board regulations about the supremacy of unions.

The SRU used to be the most conservative union in the world, quick to upbraid anyone if it felt amateurism was being breached, but it appreciated far quicker than the IRFU and the WRU that to cling on to a principle even if it meant potential financial ruin was not good governance.

The SRU, which not long ago refused to negotiate with clubs, only their unions, ended on the side of Premiership Rugby and the regions, a key reason why agreement was eventually reached. The position of Scotland and Italy is protected under the formula the Pro 12 has agreed for financial distribution.

Based on an assessment that the Pro 12 will receive £24m in the first year of the Champions Cup, the Scots and the Italians, who both run two professional sides, will receive more than £5m each while the Irish and the Welsh, who have four teams, will get just under £7m each.

It continues the four-way split that the Pro 12 has used to divide its share rather than split it according to the number of teams it supplies, but the new formula is different. When the total amount moves above £24m, and the aim of the clubs is for the three leagues to be sharing £100m within five years, the Welsh and the Irish will receive the greatest proportion.

The regions will next week resume talks with the WRU about the participation agreement, which has been retitled as a service agreement. They are in a far stronger position than they were a few months ago: as one of the signatories to the Champions Cup, the WRU cannot threaten to field new teams in Europe.

The WRU needs to reach an agreement with the regions with the emphasis on halting the player drain out of Wales. That means helping the four reach their target of sharing £24m a year, at which point they would be amenable to discussing central contracts.

Their alliance with Premiership Rugby should grow, and the two are looking at ways of enhancing the LV=Cup, while BT Sport will not forget the backing they provided at a crucial time.

As for Premiership Rugby, it achieved what it set out to. If it owes Ritchie a considerable amount of gratitude for breaking what had been deadlock, its decision to sign a television agreement with BT after serving notice on ERC that included cross-border matches gave it financial security in the event of the European Cup ceasing to be.

Not that there is any triumphalism over what is a clear victory, with Premiership Rugby achieving through negotiation what it was prepared to argue for in court, even down to the name of the new organisation that will be run from Switzerland. For the clubs, and the regions, that success will be measured by what the tournament delivers. They now have the authority to shape the destiny of the European club game, their objective all along.

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