Battle lines are drawn in Baron's court

Political football: Tensions surface at Twickenham once more as the élite try to protect themselves and survive

They could not bring themselves to sit next to each other, an empty chair providing a buffer zone between the two men charged with running the professional game in England. The mutual mistrust twixt Francis Baron, chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, and Howard Thomas, chief executive of Premier Rugby, was almost tangible.

They are partners in England Rugby Ltd, but if they were directors of a company in any other business their partnership would probably have been dissolved. "We have a good working relationship,'' Thomas claimed. "It doesn't mean we can't row.''

And row they did, at an extraordinary briefing at Twickenham which provided a unique insight into what normally goes on behind closed doors. Their differences were given a public airing on a number of issues, and it is clear that on promotion and relegation more blood will be splattered on the carpet.

On the one hand, the clubs in the Zurich Premiership hate the idea of an automatic one-up, one-down. As Nigel Wray, the chief investor at Saracens, put it: "How can you be expected to do up the kitchen when you have a one-year lease on the flat?'' On the other hand, ambitious clubs in National League One live for the chance to join the élite, and the signs are that their argument could win the day.

By the end of next month a "task force'' will debate and vote on the matter. It consists of three representatives from Premier Rugby, three from National League One and the chairman from the RFU – Baron. If the vote is tied, Baron can untie it. Judging by his remarks, he is in favour of promotion and relegation, rather than a play-off between the bottom club in the Premiership and the champions of National League One.

"We can't have a solution that is seen as an insurance policy for investors,'' he said. At this point he was cut off by Thomas. "I think Francis Baron is totally wrong. This is an English disease. We have done a world review and relegation doesn't happen anywhere except in football in this country, and what a great example that is. The governing body are very happy to waste private investors' money, but not their own.''

Baron: "I was going to say, before Howard Thomas jumped on my tongue, we have to create the right environment for investors in our sport. It's got to be good for the whole game in England. There's nothing we can do about somebody mismanaging a club, but we can't under-write poor management.''

As an exercise in creating the right environment, or impression, this was a classic of the wrong kind.

At a simultaneous press conference in Bristol, Malcolm Pearce had walked out, refusing to answer questions about whether he was buying into Bath. Pearce, who is washing his hands of Bristol, found a friend at Twickenham. "Malcolm has had a very unfair press,'' Thomas said. "He's been advertising for help for six months and has been underwhelmed by the interest. Talk of greedy owners hurts me. They have put in £150m and are the real heroes of the English game. Malcolm saved Bristol from administration and people vilify him when he wants to get out. He's used the inheritance of his kids. He's got tired of writing cheques.'' Not so tired that he doesn't want a slice of Bath.

Premier Rugby's emotional argument did not bring a tear to Baron's face, and even if it had, Thomas would not have noticed. They do not see eye to eye, and this was a continuation of their earlier meeting, the one which resulted in deadlock over Rotherham's promotion. It was not resolved until after the completion of the Premiership programme, the timing of which Thomas admitted was an "embarrassment''. He and Baron were agreed on one thing – it would not be handled as ineptly next year. They are looking for an independent chairman of England Rugby, and are down to a shortlist of two.

Before the briefing degenerated into a "them and us" conflict, Thomas had proudly proclaimed that, despite a "crazy'' structure to the season, attendances had risen by 12.5 per cent and women and youngsters, in particular, were being drawn to the game. They are not being drawn to listen to owners bleat about their investment.

As businessmen, they saw an opportunity in professional rugby, although any fool could have told them to tread carefully. It was their call. Big mistakes have been made: in paying silly money, usually to overseas players, in the name of expediency; in appearing to draw a line in the sand in their battles with the governing body, only to discover the line was obliterated; and in treating National League One as if it didn't exist.

"We can't say we have the 12 best clubs in the country without a play-off,'' Thomas said. Why not? A play-off over two legs would probably favour a Premier club, but when Thomas talks about bigger crowds he is conveniently forgetting that matches involving teams threatened with relegation are high on the list of popular entertainment.

As for the development of grounds, most clubs have decamped to football stadiums. Only Northampton, Leicester and Newcastle have considered serious investment in their infrastructure. Which brings us to our old friend, primacy of tenure. "I don't agree with ring-fencing and we can't use the entry criteria as a bar,'' Baron said. "We want one set of criteria that applies to all. No compromise, no fudge.'' Thomas predicted that the days of the heroic owner were numbered.

The true heroes of the game are the players, and they must be praying that sooner rather than later everybody starts to sing from the same hymn sheet. However, on the structured season, Baron heard only discord. "Unless we get a global season agreed we have to accept where we are. Considering the difficulty in getting the unions to agree to anything, that is a long way off.''

It left Thomas bemoaning the difficulty of supporters not knowing "when the shop's open''. In every other regard, of course, Premier Rugby is all in favour of a closed shop.