Welsh regions to join Anglo-French breakaway competition

LONDON (Reuters) - This year's Heineken Cup looks set to be the last after the surprise announcement on Tuesday that the four Welsh regional teams have decided to back the Anglo-French plan for a breakaway competition from next season.





Cardiff Blues, the Ospreys, the Scarlets and Newport Gwent Dragons have given "full support for the proposed new Rugby Champions Cup Competitions" in a statement released via Regional Rugby Wales (RRW).

"Whilst there remain elements of detail to be confirmed, it is now clear that there are a number of significant advantages to the new competitions in equality of governance, format, qualification and distribution across the individual participating clubs," the statement said.

"Consequently, RRW looks forward to working with the Welsh Rugby Union to support their efforts and positive engagement in striving to ensure our teams are involved in strong, valuable European Clubs competitions in time for next season."

The English and French leagues announced last year that they planned to withdraw from the Heineken Cup and second-tier Amlin Challenge Cup after making no headway in negotiations with the Celtic unions over qualification criteria and income distribution.

(Reporting by Mitch Phillips; Editing by Ken Ferris)


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