The 2013-14 Heineken Cup season was launched in Glasgow on Wednesday © PA Photos

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The Scottish Rugby Union seems resigned to the fact it may have to give up its guaranteed two spots in the Heineken Cup if compromise is to be found over the future of the seemingly doomed European tournament.

European Rugby Cup Ltd (ERC) - the body in charge of the Heineken Cup - is still optimistic a solution can be found to save the Heineken Cup despite Premiership Rugby (PRL) and Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) showing no signs of backing down from their plans to play in the newly formed Rugby Champions Cup next season.

The new tournament will be club-run rather than the current structure of the Heineken Cup which is Union organised. PRL is adamant it will be more meritocratic and financially beneficial than the current Heineken Cup and has opened the door to teams in the RaboDirect Pro12 with the hope they will join the Anglo-French breakaway competition.

However, any new tournament needs International Rugby Board ratification and the four Unions that make up the PRO12 are all adamant that they will only permit their teams to join the Champions Cup if the IRB gives the tournament its blessing.

There are still lingering hopes that the Heineken Cup can be saved and SRU CEO Mark Dodson seems to have accepted the qualification process will need to altered if the tournament is preserved. Both PRL and LNR hold misgivings over the current structure which they deem to be weighted in favour of the PRO12 sides.

Currently, the Scottish sides - Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors - are both guaranteed a spot in the Heineken Cup regardless of form in the PRO12. But Dodson admits this may have to change and they will have to qualify through finishing in the top six of the league.

"We cannot be frightened of it," Dodson said. "I'm not frightened of making sure that we can qualify into a merit-based competition. We would prefer to have one club guaranteed but the fact of the matter is that if we are going to compete in Europe and be serious about the Heineken Cup then we have to have teams that can play at that standard."

And Dodson hopes any future European tournament will still be run by ERC and not by the clubs. He added: "If the ERC had been a failure, you would think about moving on. But when you look at the track record of success, why would you want to ditch a tournament that the fans love, the players love, and is growing in value year on year?

"What it might need is a certain amount of tweaking to make it even better and fairer and more equitable, but I'm certain the Heineken Cup is where we should be."