Eliminating all their four current teams from the Challenge Cup would be a bit harsh I think. Even if they have not won any games, their two best teams (Calvisano and Cavalieri Prato) are not that terrible.
Calvisano only lost by two points to Agen in the first round, then I watched them play in Bucharest and thought they were decent despite conceding six tries. They even played well for the first 30 minutes in their away match vs Bath, when they dominated the game. After that, they ran out of steam and got completely stomped.
Same for Cavalieri, they managed close results against Stade Francais and London Welsh at home. I watched their last game (away vs Stade) and they were in it for about 60 minutes (Stade Francais was only leading 8-6 at half time). It's bad fitness that hurts these teams, they can compete well for some time but inevitably their gas runs out and they end up losing by big margins.
I would relegate Zebre to Amlin and promote a French or English team to take their place in the Heineken Cup, while giving an additional two Challenge Cup spots to the best two Eccellenza teams.
The remaining two Challenge Cup spots should be given to Georgia, Russia or Portugal (league champions or even a selection like Bucharest Wolves would do). However, I doubt that the ERC will include Russia and Georgia in this competition, due to the additional distance and logistic costs.
Calvisano only lost by two points to Agen in the first round, then I watched them play in Bucharest and thought they were decent despite conceding six tries. They even played well for the first 30 minutes in their away match vs Bath, when they dominated the game. After that, they ran out of steam and got completely stomped.
Same for Cavalieri, they managed close results against Stade Francais and London Welsh at home. I watched their last game (away vs Stade) and they were in it for about 60 minutes (Stade Francais was only leading 8-6 at half time). It's bad fitness that hurts these teams, they can compete well for some time but inevitably their gas runs out and they end up losing by big margins.
I would relegate Zebre to Amlin and promote a French or English team to take their place in the Heineken Cup, while giving an additional two Challenge Cup spots to the best two Eccellenza teams.
The remaining two Challenge Cup spots should be given to Georgia, Russia or Portugal (league champions or even a selection like Bucharest Wolves would do). However, I doubt that the ERC will include Russia and Georgia in this competition, due to the additional distance and logistic costs.
