FACE-OFF
NICK PUREWAL
“JEOPARDY IS central to genuine elite sporting competition. The only way to turn the Champions Cup into compelling, era-defining sporting drama is to render each match a full knockout contest.
“Yes, TV schedulers and money makers will cry foul, but there is a way around that imposition too. If only the best of the best qualify for the top European tournament, the first-round losers can drop into a wider Challenge Cup set-up.
“A true knockout Champions Cup would start with a Round of 16, with all fixtures at neutral venues in close proximity. Two days, eight matches, four cities, every match televised.
What a magical weekend.
“Six teams from France, five from the URC and five from the Premiership.
“All of a sudden, all the tension, drama and narrative is back – as much due to fear as excitement. The point of a cup competition ought to be based around embracing the anomaly, that random bolter of a team that strikes gold when even they did not expect it themselves.
“Think Red Star Belgrade or Steaua Bucharest in football’s European Cup. The Champions League format has put paid to the glory of a random triumph. In rugby, the closest to an outsider winning the European Cup was Brive in 1997.
“And what of player welfare? The winners would only play four matches in Europe in an entire season. After the Round of 16, losers would drop out.
The tougher to qualify, the harder to win, the more prized the enterprise.”
ADAM HATHAWAY
“NOBODY LOVED football’s old European Cup more than me, with its two-leg knockouts and only winners of domestic
