Euro final boost for France

The finals of the European Cup and the Challenge Cup in the 2013/14 season will take place in France, the president of competition organisers European Rugby Cup (ERC), Jean-Pierre Lux, announced on Monday.


The two matches will take place on the weekend of May 23-25.


Lux said that the Stade de France was being considered as a venue for the European Cup final, with Stade Jean-Bouin a contender to host the Challenge Cup decider. Both stadiums are in Paris.


It will be the fourth time that the European Cup final has taken place in France since the competition was created in 1996.


The last final on French soil saw Toulouse beat Biarritz at the Stade de France in 2010 to claim their fourth success in the tournament.


The finals of this season's tournaments will both take place in Dublin.


It is the third year in a row that the deciding matches in both competitions will be hosted by the same city, after Cardiff in 2011 and London in 2012.


After Paris in 2014, Rome has been tipped as a strong contender to host the two matches in 2015.


AFP