Fusion of foes? Basque rivals Biarritz and Bayonne
Bayonne president Alain Afflelou has confirmed that he has opened talks with his Biarritz counterpart Serge Blanco around the possibility of forming a single Basque team for the Heineken Cup.
Both clubs failed to make it out of their respective Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup groups this season and Afflelou believes that a joint venture between the two Basque rivals at European level could be beneficial to all concerned.
"There all kinds of things we could do in terms of economy of scale, " the Bayonne boss told L'Equipe.
"Maybe one day, a common stadium. And why not a single team in the European Cup."
Afflelou, who is also the owner of Bayonne's principle sponsor, said that Blanco, who is also vice-president of the French Rugby Federation, was keen on the idea and that they would continue discussions in the near future. He added however that the clubs should remain separate entities at domestic level.
"Uniting the two clubs would be an artificial solution. They should exist separately so that rugby remains strong on the Basque coast," said Afflelou.
European Rugby Cup president Jean-Pierre Lux said that "there is nothing to prevent the creation a Basque province to compete in the European Cup" if the necessary legal frameworks were put in place.
Former French international loose forward Thomas Lièvremont, who played for Biarritz before going on to become a coach at Bayonne, believes a joint team is a great idea, insisting that there is a "common Basque identity" despite the fierce rivalry between the clubs.
Ligue Nationale de Rugby president Paul Goze is less sure it's possible though.
"My position is simple: The European Cup is a competition of clubs that have qualified via the (domestic) championship," said Goze.
"The hypothesis of a fusion just for the European Cup is perhaps intellectually attractive. But materially, its unfeasible."
Comments
jamesliveinhope says...
@Qkram79 a little disingenuous I think, I said "essentially" the same, I wasn't referring to the fine print in each club consitution.
ALL of the Celtic provinces/regions/clubs regardless of their history were selected/created by their respective unions to carry the flag for the professional game. Lets not forget that behind the welsh regions there is still a Cardiff, Llanelli, Neath, Swansea and Newport.
What I was trying to say was that ERC would have difficulty in refusing an entry from a "superclub" when the Celts already operate on that basis.
what would be a real worry is if the Top 14 gives it the ok
Posted 12:07 26th January 2013
Qkram79 says...
@melkdave and @shamansheeo .. The Irish provinces have been playing as a single team for over 100 years. The welsh situation is different. The sport isn't big enough here to run more pro teams as we struggle to keep 4 provinces afloat. I'm sure if the welsh could sustain they're great old clubs as pro outfits they would but at the moment it seems impossible to keep four regions going. Maybe this is because the supporters don't identify with the team ... As you pointed out ... Merged rivals and all that. I still don't think the Biarritz / Bayonne thing has anything in common with the Celtic set up.
Posted 07:44 26th January 2013
ShamanSheep says...
@Qkram79 - genius. As makemehappy has implied, you can't merge local rivals, it doesn't work. Count the number of cars going from Pontypridd to watch a Cardiff game, or the number of people in Ebbw Vale who are enthusiastic about the Dragons.
Posted 18:03 25th January 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
no salary cap = financial risk.
Posted 17:25 25th January 2013
melkdave says...
Personnally i cant see the respective fans being in favour of this,both sets of fans are passionate about their club,and there is rivalry between the clubs going back along along tme..I have argued for this to happen with the 4 welsh regional clubs.Thats is Wales get 2 super clubs ,and 2 more regional clubs based in different parts of the country.While they keep their idenitires at domestic leval.I have only argued for this though,as i see it as the only way to really get fans watching Pro12 games in Wales,rather than their local club.In France this just isn tthe case,supporter numbers are rising yearly ,and the clubs make healthy profitsAlso its not true as @QKram say that all french clubs have far bigger budgets,than any of the celtic clubs ,alot have budgets on a par with the irish big 3 ,which is more than any english club ,but english clubs are still competative in the HC and Amlin.Anyway its a nice idea .but it will never happen for alot of reasons ,but fan power mostly..
Posted 16:46 25th January 2013
Qkram79 says...
@jamesliveinhope: Actually that's not how the Celts operate. In Ireland there are only four pro clubs. Biarritz and Bayonne are both pro outfits with bigger budgets than any of the Celtic clubs. The Celtic countries struggle to get numbers for the few pro clubs we have. if the celts had domestic professional leagues than I would agree but theres no comparison between a club like Garryowen and a club like Biarritz.
Posted 15:17 25th January 2013
Iyhel says...
That won't work - just ask the fanbase...
Posted 15:12 25th January 2013
Ricardo_S says...
It sounds quite Italian: Aironi vanishes, and then comes Zebre... More like "designer" franchises than rugby teams!
Posted 14:04 25th January 2013
jamesliveinhope says...
bizarre - how would they qualify?
At one level, its difficult to see how ERC could refuse because that's essentially how the Celts operate at the moment, but how could you have a domestic league where the club that qualifies for Europe isn't the club that takes the place.
Unless the superclub qualifies as Spanish or Basque
Posted 13:49 25th January 2013
makemehappy says...
And in time they will split again...........
Posted 13:07 25th January 2013
corkoptimist says...
This sounds mental! How could it possibly work? and what's to stop other clubs doing this just to try to win it? Can't see it happening unless they do it at domestic level too.
Posted 12:59 25th January 2013
Qkram79 says...
So why don't all of the pro teams in England form a single team called England and enter that team in the European cup? Makes sense right?
Posted 11:50 25th January 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Have to be completely one club, not two T14 clubs putting forward one team. That's just cheating.
Posted 11:32 25th January 2013