The two highest-profile matches in the European club rugby calendar will be staged in France following Wednesday's announcement that the city of Lyon will host the 2016 European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals. Both finals will take place at the new 59,000-capacity Grand Stade de Lyon, which is set for completion early next year. The Challenge Cup decider will take place on May 13, 2016, with the Champions Cup final played the following day to bring the curtain down on the 21st season of European club rugby. It has also been decided that the 2017 finals will be held in Edinburgh with the BT Murrayfield Stadium staging the Champions Cup, while the venue for the Challenge Cup final will be announced at a later date (EPCR). In Glasgow, Christopher Jack wrote Scottish Rugby Dir of Commercial Operations, Communications & Public Affairs Dominic McKay said, "It is a real endorsement of the work Scottish Rugby and its partners have achieved and will create a fantastic sporting weekend in Edinburgh and bring fans to the city from across Europe" (HERALD SCOTLAND, 6/17). In London, Alex Lowe wrote the decision to "do away with the de facto rotation system" that led to the European Cup final being shared among the leading Six Nations grounds "represents a symbolic move for EPCR." The organization was set up last year, after 18 months of "bitter arguments, to give the clubs greater autonomy from the unions over the running of European club competitions." EPCR "wants to create more of an event of its final, so that it attracts supporters" regardless of which teams are involved. In recent years, the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals have been "played on consecutive days in the same city" (LONDON TIMES, 6/17).
