England want Champions Cup to 'recover'

The England Rugby Union was plunged into a mood of despondency when the national side became the first World Cup hosts to exit the global showpiece in the group stage after pool defeats by Wales and Australia at Twickenham last year.

But, under the guidance of Australian coach Eddie Jones, England bounced back to win the Six Nations with a grand slam – their first clean sweep in the competition since their World Cup-winning year of 2003.

And the English club game is in good health, too, with three Premiership sides in the semi-finals of this weekend's Champions Cup.

Saracens face Wasps in an all-Premiership encounter on Saturday, with France's Racing 92, who play Leicester at Nottingham's City Ground in Sunday's second semifinal, all that stands in the way of an English club being crowned kings of Europe for the first time since Wasps in 2007.

"We are obviously delighted to have the lion's share (of semi-finalists) at this stage, but turning potential into a champion is something very different," said McCafferty.

"It would be great if English rugby could recover from the disappointment of the World Cup by winning both the Grand Slam and the Champions Cup.

McCafferty also said turning the Champions Cup into an English dominated affair has for long been the goal.

"It would be great to have an all-English final but Racing 92 are a very strong side.

"This is something we have been building towards for a number of seasons.

"We have good structures in place both with our clubs and the Rugby Football Union," he added of a system where, unlike in France, leading English players were spared club duty in between Six Nations matches because of release agreements.

"This is not an overnight thing, we've been building towards it."

Agence France-Presse