Peace talks are called off again

Rugby Union

Peace in rugby's tiresome, year-long row took a backward step last night with the English Professional Clubs accusing Twickenham of scuppering the latest round of talks before they had taken place.

An agenda had been thrashed out at a meeting on Monday between representatives of the Rugby Football Union and Epruc for a summit scheduled for today at a secret location. It was hoped that a solution to the whole sorry mess that is the professional era would then be sorted out.

But yesterday it emerged that the RFU had been forced to call off the meeting at the last minute because Cliff Brittle, the chairman of the RFU executive committee and a key figure in the talks because of the grass roots support he has, had to fly back to Italy yesterday. The RFU president, John Richardson, was therefore forced to call the whole thing off and that has left Epruc fuming. The deadline for the proposed clubs' breakaway is Friday.

While the problems remain unresolved, the naming of Will Carling's successor as England captain, expected to be Lawrence Dallaglio, has been delayed. It had been hoped to reveal the identity of the new captain yesterday, but the announcement now looks likely to be put on hold.

An Epruc spokesman said last night: "We are obviously upset and confused that the RFU have not gone ahead with the planned meeting. We have proposed that we meet with their team without Cliff Brittle and do as much work as we can but we have not had a response from the president."

Sources within Twickenham last night stressed they were trying to find an alternative date and time, preferably this week, for them to get round the table. An RFU source even said that the meeting originally scheduled for yesterday had been called off by Epruc. The general perception is that it should be the final round and a decision will emerge, and it is a pity that all concerned could not have cleared the decks and concentrated their attention on this vital issue.

The threat of a breakaway is particularly galling to followers of the game at a time when the old divide had finally been bridged. Proof of that came with the news that Richmond's Jim Fallon, the former Leeds wing, has become the first player who has switched from league to union to be called into the England squad for today's training session at Bisham Abbey.

Fallon, who won four England A caps while he was with Bath, switched codes in 1992, but then rejoined the 15-a-side game during the summer when the Second Division club Richmond began a massive recruiting drive. Wasps' Damian Hopley, Mark Mapletoft of Gloucester, the Sale centre Jos Baxendell and the Richmond loose forward Rob Leach were also added to the squad.

Bobby Deacy, the president of the Irish Rugby Football Union last night, heavily criticised London Irish for refusing to release six international players needed by Irish provincial sides for the European Cup, beginning on Saturday. He said: "The London Irish decision is a flagrant breach of a clear commitment - which was given by the club to both our team management and to the union - that their players would be available to represent their provinces in the European Cup."