Chief executive Phil Anderton said: We secured the right to host the European Cup final against some very stiff competition from other European countries.

We are determined to produce an event which does credit to the world-class players who perform in the cup and builds on the growing success of the tournament.

We believe the 2005 European Cup final will generate the biggest economic benefit for the city of Edinburgh from a rugby event.

Supporters have been drawn in their tens of thousands to the cup in the last few seasons and Edinburgh and Scotland will be ready to give a traditionally warm Scottish welcome for the 2005 final.

We demonstrated last summer working with the same partners and also the local authorities in Glasgow and the Borders how we could produce an event that excited players and supporters alike - the IRB Under-21 World Championship.

Now we're looking to crank up the gears for the European Cup.