'It Has Lost Its Magic': Nigel Owens Saddened By State Of Champions Cup

Europe's premier club rugby competition, the Champions Cup kicked off this weekend with clubs representing six nations facing off over twelve games in the top tier of European rugby.

For the Irish provinces, it was a relatively success weekend in the top tier with two of the three involved provinces returning bonus point wins.

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While an undercooked Ulster suffered a 61-21 thrashing at the hands of the reigning champions Toulouse, Munster found their flair in a 33-7 win over Stade Francais and Leinster had an ultimately emphatic 35-12 win over Premiership contenders.

For the English sides, however, it was a less fortuitous weekend. Despite eight of the twenty-four involved teams hailing from the Gallagher Premiership, just two of them recorded European wins this weekend.

Similarly, for Welsh fans, the current condition of their domestic and national game has meant that they're the only home nation without any representation in the top tier of the competition.

15 December 2012; Referee Nigel Owens. Heineken Cup 2012/13, Pool 4, Round 4, Ulster v Northampton Saints, Ravenhill Park, Belfast, Co. Antrim. Picture credit: Oliver McVeigh / SPORTSFILE

Nigel Owens saddened by current state of Champions Cup

While for some nations, namely Ireland and France, the current format of the Champions Cup has proved particularly beneficial, the lack of competition from English and Welsh sides has left plenty of people questioning just how prestigious this competition still is.

Chief among them was rugby refereeing legend Nigel Owens who took to social media reminiscing on the glory days of the competition - it's Heineken Cup format.

When it was the Heineken Cup it was the tournament everyone wanted to play and referee in, as well as go to watch. Sadly it has lost its magic in the last few years. Very sad as it was special. Very special indeed. Wonderful memories from some of the most wonderful of occasions.

The Welsh man then followed up in the comments below, clarifying to one fan that the tournament still delivers 'great games', but is lacking the ferocity of what it once was.

It’s nothing to do with back in my day as i felt it was losing its intensity of occasion for few years before I retired . Yes there are still some great games and knockouts are good but not quite as it was before . That’s my point.

Nigel Owens who is undoubtedly the sport's most famous referee would have been at the height of his career during the competition's heydays in the late 2000's and early 2010's, and stood as the man in the middle for the tournament's most memorable days such as Munster's 2008 Heineken Cup win over Toulouse.

Today's format features four pools of six teams, with the top four teams in each group qualifying for the round of sixteen on a seeded basis. In comparison, the Heineken Cup pool stages featured traditional pools of four that pitted Europe's giants against each other in high-jeopardy games that nearly always delivered test-like clashes.

However, like Owens, many believe that the move to the current format that was championed by stakeholders in England and France has devalued the ferocious nature of the pool stages in bygone days.

Whether this current rout is simply a reflection of the poor form of important English and Welsh sides, or something more long-lasting is yet to be seen, but there's certainly sense in what Nigel Owens is saying.

The aforementioned lack of competition has only added to the frustrations of English rugby fans who have had to purchase another subscription to watch their teams in the competition after Premier Sports acquired the rights to the entirety of the 2024/25 Champions Cup.

While high-profile commentators like Jim Hamilton bemoaned the admittedly frustrating requirement of another subscription, the arrangement will suit the other involved nations who previously had to purchase a separate subscription to watch European games but now can watch the URC, Top 14 and Champions Cup on the same channel.