Champions Cup sticking to its guns despite growing criticism of format

Raynaud's comments come in the wake of increasing criticism of the competition's format from clubs, coaches and fans.

Many believe the current format puts too much strain on players and squads in an already busy rugby calendar, which results in most teams fielding weakened sides for their Champions Cup clashes.

The tournament comprises 24 teams and begins with a pool stage of four groups with six teams in each.

After every team has played the others in the group, the top four from each pool progress to the Round of 16, meaning only eight teams are eliminated from the competition at that stage.

This means teams can often qualify from their pools with just one win from five games, such as the Bulls and Leicester Tigers this season, which is why they feel like they can often rest their star players for Champions Cup fixtures.

However, despite the criticism, Raynauld is adamant that the competition is in a good place and that the format does not require changing any time soon.

"It was the most competitive pool stage in recent years from a sporting side, and a high-stakes weekend we just had," he told The Times.

"Whatever the team lineups, the injury rate, the overriding impression is that we have Test-match rugby in club colours, and unpredictable, superb rugby on the pitch.

"I know there are opinions that it could be more elite, but the truth is it's still delivering fantastic rugby, on superb stages.

"Maybe not the entire 20 matches per weekend, but we can measure it with fan engagement. I'm not just sugar-coating it. The data points are out there.

"This format and time date is currently fixed until 2030. Remember our job is not only to provide cheese and dessert.

"We have to lay on a great compelling tournament from a sporting, fan side and to have the financial formula that is liked by TV, sponsors and host cities so we can maximise what we're generating for the club game.

"We have a compelling tournament with a stable format that is delivering what we wanted.

"Can it be improved? I think it can; one of the things we're looking at is to start earlier, and we're looking at maybe separating the round of 16 and quarter-finals."

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