Edinburgh reject Saracens proposal to play Heineken Cup match in Cape Town Griffiths said: "They've passed over the chance to stage a game that I think would have had a crowd of 50,000 in Cape Town. It would have been a one-off. It would have made rugby history and I think it would have been a huge event for the players, the supporters, everybody. From what I understand, there was no enthusiasm at Edinburgh for going at all. Which is sad, because last year Biarritz immediately saw the opportunity and were very enthusiastic. That fell through because of various problems out there, but those have all been solved. It would have created a fantastic occasion for rugby. Rugby as a sport is a game that needs to take a step out occasionally. It cannot just do the same things over and over again. We are in a very competitive market and we need to be bold and we need to be innovative. Sources at Edinburgh have suggested that there were concerns over expenses above and beyond simple travel and accommodation. It is also understood that the coaches wanted to prepare for a potentially critical match in the familiar surroundings of their Murrayfield base before travelling south on the eve of the game, something that would not be possible if the journey involved crossing continents. Edinburgh managing director Craig Docherty said: "As a club, our commitment is to our fans and other key stakeholders, such as sponsors, and fundamentally our goal is to qualify from what is a very challenging Heineken Cup pool. Following Edinburgh Rugby to South Africa is simply not an option for the vast majority whose support was so crucial to our journey to last season's semi-final. I'm sure they will be desperate to support us in what could be a critical pool game. The case made by Saracens was not commercially compelling and, from a performance perspective, would have had a detrimental effect on our preparation for and recovery from this match. Edinburgh Rugby are open to new and innovative ideas but the prospect of playing our final pool game in the southern hemisphere was simply not an option that we could seriously consider from a number of different perspectives. However, Griffiths stressed the point that rugby had to be more imaginative about how and where games are staged. "What's going to happen now is that will play against Edinburgh on Jan 19 at Vicarage Road," he said. There will be a crowd similar to the crowd at Murrayfield. The game will be played, will not cause any great waves, and will quickly be forgotten. It's probably going to be very cold and miserable in Europe then. But people could have turned on to see this game played in the evening sunlight and balmy temperatures, and probably a great game of rugby. It would have been fantastic for Saracens and for Edinburgh and for European rugby, so it's disappointing that it can't take place.