30 September 2026
A radical proposal to overhaul the Investec Champions Cup could severely disrupt the landscape of club rugby. French Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) president Yann Roubert has publicly backed an elitist restructure to slash the competition from 24 teams down to 16.
The high-stakes blueprint, heavily championed by English Premiership clubs, aims to eliminate traditional pool stages. Under this streamlined model, the tournament would transition straight into a knockout format beginning with a two-legged Round of 16.
The automatic qualification quotas for the French Top 14, English Premiership, and United Rugby Championship (URC) would contract from eight teams down to five or six. "We are in favour of having a more elite European competition, maybe by coming down to 16 clubs rather than 24, so we have only very high-level matches," Roubert elaborated in an interview with The Telegraph.
He also commented on the distribution of the reduced slots, suggesting, "We would provide five or six [teams], because we are three leagues, so we should have at least five, plus the winner (of the Champions Cup)." This means a potential cut from eight teams per league under the current setup. The strategic shift directly threatens the long-term inclusion of South African franchises, whose on-field performance is now being openly questioned.
Despite their participation since 2022, no South African team has managed to breach the tournament's final four. Roubert pointed out the necessity to review their involvement, stating, "They have never made it to the semi-finals, and we do not know what happened, because for sure they’ve got the players to succeed." Cross-hemisphere travel logistics and player welfare concerns have prompted intense review on both sides of the equator.
While the European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) tournament structures remain technically locked in until 2030, administrative wheels are spinning rapidly behind closed doors. Discussions regarding the next format are anticipated to occur within EPCR, where more selective criteria may be considered. "This is where we might think of being maybe a bit more selective, elitist," Roubert added, hinting at a more rigorous selection process for future tournaments.