Blanco expects English clubs to be in European Cup
Posted: Sunday January 17, 1999 12:14 PM
PARIS (Reuters) -- French rugby union legend Serge
Blanco is confident English clubs will take part in the European
Cup next season after boycotting the competition in 1998.
"I'm very confident that we're on the right track,"
Blanco, president of the French national league, told a meeting
of English and French clubs at Roissy outside Paris.
"The English clubs don't want to remain isolated, but they
have certain demands concerning the organisation[of the
event]," Blanco told French radio.
"If we find common ground with the English, we'll go and
see the directors of the ERC [European Rugby Cup]."
English clubs have only taken part in the European Cup twice
in the four seasons of its existence so far, unhappy with the
way it clashed with the domestic calendar.
The current boycott means Bath was unable to defend the
title it won when it beat favorite and then titleholder Brive
in the Bordeaux final last January.
Colomiers of France meets Ulster of Northern Ireland in this
season's final in Dublin on January 30.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
| 
