Racing, too, have plans to stimulate growth as the construction of a purpose-built, multi-activity 32,000-capacity Arena in La Defense to the west of Paris indicates. The ambitious project is due to be in operation within the next 18 months. This is not a club shorn of potential. They are going to build and they will come.

The newly-formed Champions Cup has had its bedding-down phase. It has been greeted with acclaim if not universally loved by the Celts, who believe they have been bushwacked into a more rigorous set-up to the detriment of their own numbers. The qualification process needed a radical overhaul. That has been duly done. But it is not the pressing issue.

The failure is one of marketing and strategic placement. There was a big push from the English and French clubs in the fractious talks that preceded the forming of the new competition to free up the calendar at the end of May so that the climax of the domestic season, particularly in France, could hold centre stage.

The squeeze therefore comes on Europe. The final itself was even earlier last season, May 2 at Twickenham, and although it has been pushed into a more appropriate slot this season, May 14 in Lyon, the quick two-week turnaround between the quarters and the semi has not worked. The most difficult game to sell in the entire competition is a semi-final package at neutral venues. A 14-day window is ridiculously restricted.