The Rugby Football Union and the England's top flight clubs clashed head on in the High Court in London today in the continuing dispute over control of elite players.

Premier Rugby sought a court declaration that the Guinness Premiership clubs are not obliged, under a 2001 "long form agreement" with the RFU, to release their players for an additional fixture outside the international calendar.

The match in question is England's clash against New Zealand at Twickenham on November 5th, arranged to celebrate the reopening of the stadium's rebuilt South Stand.

But it is now at the centre of the long-running dispute over the extent of the clubs and players obligations under the agreement.