Some of England's Rugby Clubs claim they are ready to withdraw from the Heineken European Cup if they do not get more money for playing in the competition.

Charles Levinson, Wasps RFC: "improvements needed to competition"

Many senior clubs say they cannot continue taking part unless the financial rewards are improved and the dates of the fixtures changed to fit in with domestic competitions.

There is also concern that French and English clubs are having to face Scottish and Irish provincial sides.

The clubs will put their views to the European Rugby Cup board which meets in Dublin in Ireland on Friday.

Charles Levinson, Wasps RFC

Charles Levinson of the Premiership One club Wasps told BBC Breakfast News that three main improvements need to be made to the competition.

"Last season it came too early in the season so we want to change the scheduling of games. We also want to improve the quality of teams in the competition and thirdly we want a fairer division of money."

Cup semi-finals this weekend

The semi-finals of the competition take place on Saturday and Sunday.

England's Bath are hoping a capacity home crowd will give them a crucial extra edge when they take on French club Pau in the first of the semi-finals.

England flyhalf Mike Catt, who returns to action after a three-week lay-off because of concussion, believes the west country supporters could be the most important factor in favour of the English club.

"We don't really know that much about them but they are obviously a top side otherwise they wouldn't have got this far." Catt said.

The holders of the cup, Brive take on former champions Toulouse in the other semifinal on Sunday, guaranteeing at least one French club in the final on January 31.

After beating England's Harlequins in the quarter-finals, Toulouse are bidding to reach the final for the second time in three years.

"It's going to be an enthralling match", said Toulouse coach Guy Noves whose side extended their unbeaten run to six games in the French championship last weekend.

"We know that it is going to be our toughest game since the season started", he said. "Brive are very strong physically. We expect a tough contest, particularly for possession."
 

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