Overview
- Chief executive Jacques Raynaud confirmed the format will not change before 2030, arguing the tournament still delivers high-quality rugby and unpredictability.
- Organisers cite rising TV viewership, bigger stadium crowds and double‑digit growth on YouTube, with a claimed worldwide audience roughly doubled since 2019.
- Players, coaches and commentators say the structure encourages squad rotation and yields uneven pool games, noting heavy defeats and last‑16 qualification with only one win for Leicester and the Bulls.
- EPCR has reinstated a 42‑player season limit per club, with injury exceptions, in a bid to discourage wholesale rotation for away fixtures.
- Calendar tweaks under discussion include an October start and separating the round of 16 from the quarter‑finals, with talks to align URC schedules for reduced December travel, though back‑to‑back South African home pool games were ruled out as distorting.