Players to be released for England

Rugby Union

England's leading clubs yesterday agreed to release players for the opening international of the season against Italy on 23 November but, almost in the same breath, pledged to boycott this year's programme of divisional matches.

That part of the decision will be greeted with wild applause by everyone except the handful of Rugby Football Union officials who still insist on flogging a horse that has been dead for the best part of a decade. Quite who scheduled tourists like Queensland and the Junior Springboks will now play in the run-up to Christmas is anyone's guess.

Both moves came in response to the breakdown of talks between Epruc, the clubs' umbrella organisation, and the Rugby Football Union, which is attempting to bring those clubs to heel with little success.

Epruc yesterday outlined their version of the latest failure to reach a lasting settlement over the control and financing of the professional game in England. They insisted that the RFU had reneged on an agreement they claim was struck on 14 October, but only succeeded in demonstrating that the distance between the two sides was almost laughably minuscule. The major point at issue is not strictly financial but concerns ownership of broadcasting rights.

The RFU wants to maintain a broad veto on deals struck with television companies and sponsors while the clubs say that under European competition law they are the only people who count. They are willing to test that view in court, although no one is prepared to offer a timescale.

It did not take long for the personality clash behind the stalemate to emerge. Peter Wheeler, the Leicester chief executive, laid the blame for the impasse at the door of Cliff Brittle, the equally strong-willed RFU executive chairman. "I believe seven out of the eight negotiators involved in the talks that concluded on 14 October would have been prepared to sign an agreement there and then," Wheeler said. "One man wasn't. I'm astonished that Cliff Brittle has been able to wield such power."

Wheeler, however, knows full well that Brittle could cement his power base by taking the argument back to the RFU membership that voted for him.

Monday's settlement between the Welsh clubs and their governing body means an Epruc breakaway now would be suicidal. They are also playing safe by guaranteeing that the England-Italy match will go ahead unhindered. Their stance on the divisional programme will embarrass the RFU, however. Not only will Epruc clubs not release players to face teams who have been flown halfway round the world in the expectation of some meaningful rugby, but they will also refuse use of their grounds and facilities.

Roger Blyth, the former international full-back, is among four First Division representatives who will sit on an eight-man board to run professional rugby in Wales.

Rory Underwood has been dropped for the first time in his Leicester career, a month after being dropped by England. The winger has been replaced by the teenager Leon Lloyd for tomorrow's European Cup game against Pau in France.