Rugby/ European Cup Stand-off:Premier Rugby in England is taking legal advice after the Six Nations, spurred on by the International Rugby Board, yesterday issued a strongly worded statement reaffirming the role of unions as the governors of the game and emphasising the inferior standing of clubs.
The Six Nations signed a new five-year participation agreement for the Heineken European Cup, with the unions holding all the shares on the organising body, European Rugby Cup Ltd, although they individually have the right to transfer some or all of their shares to their participating teams.
A statement, issued by the IRB rather than the Six Nations, said: "The game can only flourish if it is healthy at all levels. The unions are the only bodies set up to achieve just that. The unions do not want to be confrontational, but will do what it takes to secure the game's future. No other new tournaments will be sanctioned by the six national unions and IRB."
The meeting of the Six Nations was called by the IRB chairman, Syd Millar, following the decision of the leading clubs in France and England not to sign up to a new European Cup agreement. Millar has sent out invitations to Premier Rugby and the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, headed by Serge Blanco - who this week engaged in a war of words with Millar - to meet him to discuss the issues that led up to the European Cup crisis.
The hard line taken by Millar and the unions has, however, reduced rather than enhanced the prospect of Premier Rugby and LNR taking part in the European Cup next season.
"The language of the statement is aggressive and amounts to an attack on professional club rugby in England and France," said the Premier Rugby chief executive, Mark McCafferty.
"What they are saying is that if we are not prepared to take part in a competition on terms dictated by them then we are not allowed to arrange alternative fixtures. We will be taking legal advice because the IRB is adopting an extreme position.
"All we asked for was to be partners on ERC, not to take the tournament over, but all the unions are concerned about is using their regulatory power and trying to show who is boss, not taking the competition forward."
The English Rugby Football Union's management board chairman, Martyn Thomas, who will be meeting McCafferty before Sunday's EDF Energy Cup final, said he hoped Premier Rugby would appreciate concessions had been made by the Six Nations.
"Clubs can hold shares and the participation agreement guarantees that England will be represented in the Heineken Cup by clubs, which should allay Blanco's unfounded fears that we intended to go down the franchise route.
"Unions have a responsibility for the whole game, not just the top end, and what the English and French clubs should remember is that we are not playing games here. Some of the ERC staff were in tears this week because they thought they were going to lose their jobs."
Sponsors Heineken are holding a watching brief: the ERC board meets before the end of the month to finalise next season's tournament.
"We have not given them a deadline, but once they have put something together we will discuss our sponsorship," said Heineken's Jonathan Lane. "We hope the tournament can carry on as it has done."
Guardian Service
