While it would appear unlikely that Zebre and Treviso will make it as far as the Heineken Cup final in 2015, the game itself is to be staged in Italy, as long as an ERC agreement is passed.
By Declan Whooley
Talks are still going between stakeholders about the future of the competition, with French and English clubs voicing their disapproval of the current format.
Paris had recently been announced as the host for the 2014 Heineken and Amlin Cup finals, in the final year of the current agreement.
If and when the next agreement is signed off, Italy will host the 2015 decider.
“The decision has of course been halted by the general ERC participation agreement renewal process that is ongoing, but it has been in the pipeline since last year,” Fabrizio Gaetaniello, an Italian representative on the ERC board told ESPN Scrum.
Where the match takes place is still undecided. The Stadio Olimpico is the obvious choice with a capacity of 74,000, but the San Siro in Milan was almost full to its 80,000 capacity when the All Blacks visited in 2009.
“Whether it will be Rome or Milan we actually are still pondering the better solution,” said Gaetaniello.
We can imagine that Ryanair will be keeping a close eye on developments ahead of the decision.
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