Leading lights of the world game were on hand in Cardiff today for the official launch of the 2019/20 Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup tournaments and to celebrate the start of the 25th anniversary season of Europe’s premier club rugby competition.
Tournament winners, Johnny Sexton, Leo Cullen and Allen
Clarke, as well as Chris Robshaw, Iain Henderson and Dan Lydiate, were among
the top names who attended the event at the Principality Stadium, in addition
to Emile Ntamack, the winning Toulouse captain from the first European Cup
final which was staged in the Welsh capital in 1996.
With all roads for the anniversary season leading to
Marseille and the 2020 Finals weekend, it was announced that the Challenge Cup
final at the Stade de Marseille on 22 May will kick off at 21.00 (local time)
with the following day’s Heineken Champions Cup showpiece getting underway at
17.45 (local time).
It was also confirmed that more than 45,000 tickets have
been sold for the two finals matches combined as Marseille is set to become the
10th city to host a European Cup decider.
Directors of Rugby and Head Coaches, and high-profile
players from Gallagher Premiership clubs participating in the Heineken
Champions Cup – Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester Rugby, Northampton Saints,
Harlequins, Bath Rugby and Sale Sharks – and from the PRO14 clubs in the
tournament – Leinster Rugby, Glasgow Warriors, Munster Rugby, Ulster Rugby,
Connacht Rugby, Benetton Rugby and Ospreys – attended the event which was
compered by BT Sport’s Craig Doyle and Lee McKenzie of Channel 4.
Cardiff Blues Head Coach, John Mulvihill, and captain, Ellis Jenkins, were also present as representatives of the clubs competing in this season’s Challenge Cup.
The Heineken Champions Cup kicks off on Friday, 15 November
with the Pool 5 clash of Gloucester and TOP 14 winners, Toulouse, at Kingsholm
live on BT Sport, and the following day will see the continued free-to-air
exposure of the tournament which has generated increased audiences in the UK
and Ireland when Bath and Ulster meet at the Rec live on Channel 4 and Virgin
Media, with the match also going out live on BT Sport.
EPCR has also recently announced that an extra Heineken
Champions Cup match will go out live and free-to-air each weekend in France
starting with La Rochelle against the Exeter Chiefs in Round 1, and this
development will undoubtedly boost TV audiences in the key French market.
This enhanced TV coverage is in addition to the news that
S4C will broadcast one live Challenge Cup match per round following an
agreement with BT Sport and EPCR, starting with Scarlets home tie against
London Irish on Saturday, 16 November followed by Cardiff Blues’ clash with
Leicester Tigers at the Arms Park in Round 2 on Saturday, 23 November.
EPCR Chairman, Simon Halliday, said: “The Heineken Champions
Cup has been the one to win for a quarter of a century in club rugby and we
have a fascinating season ahead on the Road to Marseille. On the back of an
exceptional Rugby World Cup, stars of the global game are ready to lock horns
on the continental stage and it’s an exciting prospect to be underway next
week.”
EPCR Director General, Vincent Gaillard, said: “Finals Weekend in Marseille has already excited the European rugby family and it will be a fitting destination to conclude the 25th season of what is now the Heineken Champions Cup. Launching the season in a city that is regarded by many as the tournament’s spiritual home is completely appropriate, and to see Emile Ntamack back in Cardiff with the inaugural trophy from 1996 is very special indeed.”
