The Heineken Cup was universally recognised for years as the great success story of the professional era. It is the same age, the first match played on Halloween in 1995, a Tuesday night, on the shores of the Black Sea, when Toulouse beat Farul Constanta of Romania 54-10 in front of two men and a dog.
Within a decade it was being heralded by no less an authority than the Observer as the greatest rugby tournament. More colourful than regular domestic competitions; more competitive than the World Cup; more teams than the Six Nations or (as was then) the Tri Nations. On the eve of the 10th season, in 2004, our late correspondent Eddie Butler described the competition as a “new cultural experience” to rival the Six Nations.
