Africa-Press – South-Africa. European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) chairman Dominic McKay revealed that the City of Cape Town is one of the cities vying to host either of the 2025 and 2026 Champions and Challenge Cup finals.
Speaking at a media roundtable on Thursday afternoon ahead of this year’s finals weekend, McKay said interest in hosting the premier club rugby finale outside Europe was strong, including from South Africa and the USA.
On Saturday, Leinster host La Rochelle in Dublin in the Champions Cup final but not before Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors face Toulon’s Cheslin Kolbe and Co at the same ground on Friday night (21:00).
Next year’s tournament will be held at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, home of the English Premier League side that gained infamy in this country over a botched near-billion-rand SA Tourism endorsement deal.
Cape Town Stadium has already sold out its 55 000 capacity seats for the United Rugby Championship (URC) final between the Stormers and Munster (27 May), the home side’s second home final in two years.
Tickets flew in a matter of hours, selling out in under three from their time of release on Thursday.
“We’re in the midst of a process at the moment. We have launched a process of expressions of interest from the rugby family and beyond for 2025 and 2026 finals,” said McKay.
“We’ve been genuinely blown away by the level of interest, both from across Europe but also across South Africa and into the United States as well.
“We’ve got a number of cities, countries and stadia vying to host the premium competition in club rugby in the world.
“We’ve got over 23 bids that have been put forward, so we’re going to work through those over the coming weeks and try to come to a decision.”
South African franchises joined EPCR tournaments for the first time this season where the majority found the travelling tough, although none embarrassed themselves.
All four teams made the knockout stages of the respective tournaments, with the Stormers and Sharks going furthest by making the Champions Cup quarter-finals. The Lions also made the Challenge Cup quarter-finals before getting knocked out by the eventual finalists in Glasgow.
With clamour for home rugby matches on the upturn, Cape Town could cash in on the vibe their successful side has generated by bringing the European Cup finals south.
Sibusiso Mjikeliso | Dobson’s wrong on this score: He CAN win a World Cup
“I was down in South Africa at the back end of last year and I was petitioned quite hard by the Mayor of Cape Town (Geordin Hill-Lewis) and the government to think about bringing a final to South Africa,” McKay revealed.
“It was really pleasing to hear the level of interest and enthusiasm. I’m sure as part of our big process for 2025 and 2026, we may well see some great bids from countries like South Africa coming to the fore.
“The process is underway and we’re keen to encourage great bids from across the world and it’s pleasing to see the variety from different locations coming in.
“We’re in Dublin this year and we’re in Tottenham next year, which will really be exciting. But we are on a mission to take our finals to new locations.
“One of the great things about the EPCR final weekends is that people travel and they make their plans well in advance. If we can excite people by going to new locations, that’s something we’re very keen to explore.”
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
