Rugby union: This time the Union must be strong

'Surely the penny has dropped by now into even the densest head. The clubs will stop at nothing'

THIS TIME, maybe, the leading English clubs have gone too far. If there is to be a healthy future we must hope that they are made to pay. For the past 18 months they have been running such a well-orchestrated campaign of disinformation that they have pulled the wool over the eyes of the majority of those involved in the game. Time and again they have risen from the muckheap, created largely by their own greed and ambition, smelling of roses.

It has to be said that the success of this strategy has owed much to the inability of the opposition to mount an effective counter-attack. The home unions, divided since the start of the professional era, have been guilty not so much of scoring own goals as of leaving the goalmouth unattended and Sir John Hall and his cohorts know just enough about the sport to score every time.

Since the defeat of Cliff Brittle at last month's annual meeting of the RFU, the lack of a whipping boy has been a problem for the clubs. But with the clever wheeze of a British League, floated incidentally by Brittle months ago, they suddenly found one in Vernon Pugh QC, a committee member of the Welsh Rugby Union and chairman of the International Rugby Board. The only problem is that Pugh is a tricky adversary. He possesses a formidable intellect and is a skilled negotiator. He is also the most powerful man in world rugby.

By rejecting the plans for a British League, Pugh and the WRU took the only course open to them. In doing so, and again contrary to so much of the woefully uninformed reporting on the subject, they had the full backing of the Scots and the Irish. Quite apart from the absurdly short time at their disposal to set up such a complex operation they knew that the governance of the league would have come under the control of the English clubs. They would therefore have been surrendering many of their most valuable possessions. Not only that, but by signing up to such a venture the Welsh, Scots and, possibly the Irish, would have left themselves vulnerable to any decision made by the European Commission concerning the future organisation of the game. At the moment this is not the case and unlike the Rugby Football Union through the discredited Mayfair Agreement, the Celtic nations are determined to remain above and beyond the reach of any such ruling.

The clubs' behaviour in recent weeks has, even by their own sliding scale of integrity, been contemptible. Some of the comments attributed to their spokesmen in recent days have beggared belief. When they signed the Mayfair Agreement they did so in the knowledge that they had already broken it. Six months ago their representatives signed a legally binding document with Cardiff and Swansea bringing them on board. Not only were the signatories to that agreement deceiving their governing body but they were cheating on their own kind, because when they reported back to the clubs they claimed that the arrangement was merely a letter of intent. When, at a subsequent meeting, it transpired that the deal was a binding contract there was uproar.

No one should be in the least bit surprised. This is the way the clubs have been conducting their business for two years. They rode roughshod over the Leicester Agreement, they have made a mockery of the Mayfair Agreement, and their almost weekly jaunts to France and beyond in their attempts to destabilise the game have flagrantly breached the rules of the IB. Their petulant withdrawal from the European Cup was nothing more than blackmail. They attempted to establish an Anglo-French competition followed by an Anglo-Welsh tournament, followed by a British League. Yet week after week last season we were informed by doting correspondents that English club rugby was a superb product creating top-quality players and unrivalled excitement and entertainment. So why the rush to change?

Surely the penny has dropped by now even into the densest head. The clubs will stop at nothing in their efforts to get the power and control they want. Sir John Hall has said as much. He also personally telephoned the chief executives of the two Scottish super districts in an attempt to get their backing for the British League. This is no way to run a church fete let alone a professional game. Meanwhile the clubs' collective debt soars to uncontainable levels. With every day that passes the RFU are receiving more SOS calls. Perhaps now people will have a clearer understanding of the problems Brittle faced with the clubs. Brian Baister, his successor, has worked like a contortionist to appease them and to accommodate their continual demands but like Brittle he has found it an impossible task.

What is of primary concern now is what action the RFU will take against their rebellious clubs. It is certainly not enough to condemn them publicly for joining forces with Cardiff and Swansea if privately they allow them to carry on with impunity. Nor is it enough to deny them access to top referees and to withdraw insurance cover for the players. First of all they should tear up the Mayfair Agreement which is not worth the paper it is written on. The clubs patently consider it a meaningless document. There are a number of sanctions available to the RFU including the withholding of sponsorship money and the withdrawal of television coverage. They could also make it clear to those players who play in unauthorised matches against the Welsh clubs that they can no longer be considered for selection to the national side.

Once again, of course, it is the players who will suffer most. With a minimum of 30 League games, official and unofficial, the clubs who are constantly professing to have the best interests of their players at heart have a strange way of showing it. But for the sake of the game the RFU must take the strongest possible action. By doing so rugby would at the very least reach the beginning of the end of this desperately sorry affair.