Five wise men can take a bow

Tomorrow will be an historic and auspicious occasion for Ulster and Irish rugby when Lansdowne Road will be packed to capacity for the final of the European Cup between Ulster and Colomiers. It is, therefore, appropriate to reflect on the circumstances in which the competition was conceived, what has happened since it was inaugurated and the men who put this excellent competition in place.

The magnitude of the occasion for Ulster and for Ireland is reflected in the fact that never in the history of this, the oldest rugby international ground in the world, has the stadium been full for a rugby match apart from the internationals.

Almost 50,000 will be present tomorrow afternoon. Were the ground capacity greater, another 30,000 people would be there.

The Ulster branch got applications for over 50,000 tickets. Even as things stand, the attendance will represent a record for a European Cup final. That is a fairly telling answer to those who said it was a discredited competition without appeal because the English clubs saw fit not to enter it and that the final would be an all-French affair.

The enthusiasm generated here by Ulster's exploits has been without precedent and whether Ulster win or lose tomorrow, they have given Irish rugby a tremendous boost and elevated the game to a level in the province that one could not have imagined even a few weeks ago. Let us therefore give the credit due to men such as Vernon Pugh, Tom Kiernan, Roger Pickering and others who have worked so hard for European Rugby Cup (ERC). This is only the fourth year of the European Cup, which was inaugurated in the 1995-96 season. The background to its inauguration is, to say the least, interesting, what has happened since no less so.

When the southern hemisphere countries started their Super 10 series (now, of course, the Super 12), it prompted some of the legislators in the northern hemisphere to give some thought to starting a competition on similar lines in this part of the world.

When the 10-year television deal was done between the three big powers in the southern hemisphere and Sky during the 1995 World Cup, the Super 10 became the Super 12 and the minnows in the South Seas were jettisoned. Nothing new in that kind of expediency.

In the wake of that television deal, Vernon Pugh, of Wales, called a meeting, ironically in Johannesburg, attended by representatives from the five nations. It was at that meeting that it was agreed in principle that the establishment of a European Cup for clubs and districts would be prudent step that could bring considerable benefit to the game in Europe. Thus it was that the European Rugby Cup came into being.

The original directors of ERC were Vernon Pugh, Tom Kiernan (Ireland), Freddie McLeod (Scotland), John Jeavons-Fellows (England) and Marcel Martin (France). Once the company was set up, the IRFU secretary Philip Browne acted as secretary to the company, which was based in Dublin and he was also a director.

There had been a proposal in January 1995 about the possibility of a European competition but it was a tournament that would have been run basically by a commercial concern outside the game and that was not acceptable. After the meeting in Johannesburg, the necessary arrangements were made, the competition was put in place and former IRFU president and Ireland team manager Ken Reid acted as tournament director for the initial competition.

The object of the exercise was to provide a high standard of competition below the senior international level and to broaden the experience of players by playing against good quality teams from other nations.

In the inaugural season, English and Scottish teams did not participate. The English clubs were not permitted by their union to enter. The Scots were putting their regional sides in place, but have always been supportive of the competition. France, Wales, Ireland, Romania and Italy were all represented in the inaugural tournament. That was won by Toulouse, who defeated Cardiff in the final in Cardiff.

Leinster reached the semi-finals but lost at that stage to Cardiff in Dublin. Twelve teams had contested the cup, split into four pools of three each. It was a success and televised by ITV. They, however, subsequently withdrew from a three-year deal.

With Heineken as sponsors - they did not renew their sponsorship this season - the competition was bigger and better in its second year when 20 teams took part, including sides from England and Scotland.

Roger Pickering had been appointed chief executive, thus releasing Philip Browne to concentrate on his IRFU responsibilities. Four pools of five teams meant that each side played four pool matches, double the number of the previous season. Then there were quarter-finals. Ireland again had three representatives, Leinster, Munster and Ulster. Leicester and Brive contested the final won by Brive. ERC also inaugurated the Conference as a subsidiary competition and Connacht played in that.

Last season the pool matches were contested on a home-and-away basis with five pools of four teams each, which meant each side had six pool matches. The five who topped each group automatically qualified for the quarter-finals and then came three play-off matches to determine the other three quarter-finalists. Bath became the first English club to win the title, beating Brive in the final.

No Irish side qualified for the last-eight stage but Connacht did extremely well in the Conference, reaching the quarter finals and defeating Northampton twice en route.

The English clubs did not enter this season's competition and the reasons for that are sufficiently well known not to need elaboration. It was unfortunate, not least for the English clubs.

Munster and Ulster qualified for the quarterfinals with Munster losing to the side that will provide the opposition for Ulster tomorrow.

The biggest crowd to attend a European Cup final in its four-year history will be in Lansdowne Road. Perhaps that will concentrate the minds of the English clubs as to what exactly they are missing.

Two men who were in the van of the establishment of ERC, Tom Kiernan and Vernon Pugh, are the sole survivors from the original directors. They have taken some totally unjust criticism from predictable sources. Each of the five nations has two directors on the board and Peter Boyle is Ireland's second with Kiernan, who is chairman. Italy has one director.

Pugh and Kiernan will be present tomorrow. They have every reason to feel satisfied, for they have put in place what is a great competition. The begrudgers and the greedy can make their own arrangements.