Watching your province compete for the Champions Cup with 90,000 rugby fans (and a few hangers-on) at Barcelona’s Nou Camp? Sign us the hell up.
The EPCR [European Professional Club Rugby] is looking to expand its reach across the continent and may well follow in the footsteps of the Top 14 with a final at the home of Barcelona FC.
The Spanish football stadium is one of a host of venues vying to host the 2018 Champions Cup final. Following the sell-out success of last season’s Top 14 final – won by Ronan O’Gara’s Racing 92 – the EPCR may follow suit.
This season’s Challenge and Champions Cup will be held in Edinburgh’s Murrayfield but the powers that be are starting to look further afield.
EPCR’s main man Vincent Gaillard told reporters, at Wednesday’s tournament launch in Dublin, that the body has received notices of interests away from what one might call ‘rugby strongholds’. He commented:
“Italy is a place to start. Spain would be another one and there’s a couple more as well that could be of interest but it would be fair to say we’ll focus on those two first.”
Stadio Olimpico and the San Siro, which hosted New Zealand vs. Italy in 2009, are two viable options.
The Aviva Stadium last hosted a European Cup final in 2013 when Toulon defeated fellow French outfit Clermont. Twickenham’s last time out was the 2012 final held between Leinster and Ulster.
