Don't rob us of this jewel

England's warring rugby factions were yesterday labelled selfish as the European Cup, with its £15million pot of gold, faced collapse.

RFU chairman Martyn Thomas accused the Premiership clubs of blackmail. Gleeful lawyers rubbed their hands at the ludicrous prospect of the parties fighting their third court action within two years. And the Welsh counted the catastrophic cost of their teams becoming casualties of the Twickenham war.

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Roger Blyth, former Wales full back

now managing director of the

Swansea-based Ospreys, said: "The

Heineken Cup is the jewel in the

crown of European club rugby and to

put it in jeopardy is selfish. The

English game in general is being selfish

but the French are embedded in

it, too.

"I have sympathy for the clubs and

those who have put money into making

the Guinness Premiership a

great product. But surely, for the

good of the game everywhere — not just in England — they have to get a

working relationship with their

governing body."

This season’s tournament will

generate around £5.7m for the English

clubs. Llanelli expect to make

£1.4m should they beat Leicester

and reach their first final at Twickenham

on May 20 but fear that the

Anglo-French boycott will cost

prospective qualifiers a fortune in

lost prize money and gate revenue.

Blyth said: "It would take a long

time to recover from such a catatstrophic

blow. What about the sponsors?

They must be turned off by the

club-or-country issue in England.

"The disputes between the clubs

and the RFU have been going on for

so long that it’s high time they were

put to bed once and for all.

"The Heineken Cup is more than a

rugby tournament — it’s a major

European sporting event. Imagine

Liverpool, Manchester United,

Barcelona and Inter Milan pulling

out of the Champions League. It

would never happen because they all

recognise the greater good.

"Why should the Heineken Cup

become a casualty of rugby politics?

The French are knee-deep in it and

there’s no denying they and England

are the two most powerful nations.

But they have to think about the

potential damage to smaller

countries like Wales.

"It’s a rich irony, indeed, that the

English should give notice of pulling

out straight after getting three of

their teams into the semi-finals. They

probably have a good point when

they say the tournament ought to

generate more commercial revenue

but, because there is too much at

stake, you’d like to think common

sense will prevail."

That seemed to be in depressingly

short supply yesterday, especially in

France where Serge Blanco, president

of the French league, left no

doubt that tomorrow’s deadline will

bring nothing but final confirmation

that their boycott of next season’s

event goes ahead.

Blanco said: "This is not a victory but the French and English clubs need to

be united. What the English clubs

were asking for was only logical. I find

it sad that the RFU have decided to

sacrifice such a beautiful competition."

The RFU give the Premiership

every penny they receive from

Europe each season but their refusal

to split their shareholding in the

company reflects the enduring

distrust at Twickenham in their

search for a lasting new agreement

on a raft of contentious domestic

issues.

Harlequins’ rugby director Dean

Richards said: "I am dumbstruck as

to why things have gone this far. The

clubs just want a share of what is

rightfully theirs. There are big businessmen

at the RFU who perhaps

don’t understand rugby or have an

empathy for the sport and I think

that’s where part of the problem lies."

The RFU warned the Euro rebels

of legal action if they attempted to

fill blank weekends next season with

alternative fixtures at home or

abroad without official approval.

RFU chairman Martyn Thomas

called the Premiership threat

blackmail and said: "We are not going

to surrender the game to the clubs.

If they wish to commit professional

suicide, then they can’t come crying

to us at a later date that they are

short of money.

"I am bitterly disappointed at the

damage this will do the Celtic

nations. We are fully committed to

reaching an agreement, not that

recent events have helped. There is

no financial loss to the RFU over

Europe but there is a huge loss to

the game of rugby. This all seems

such a tragedy for the people who

love to watch their rugby."

Relationships are now as bad as

they were when the Premiership

clubs staged their last European

boycott eight years ago. Wasps chief

executive David Davies summed it

up: "What we are seeing is a tantrum

from an angry parent trying to tell

us: 'You are not to grow up'."

WHY THE CUP BOYCOTT?

English clubs want a bigger say

because they believe the two

European competitions are not

generating enough income.

New proposals give each of the six

unions involved an equal share in

European Rugby Cup Ltd. English

clubs say the RFU, unlike their

French and Italian counterparts,

reneged on a deal to give them

half their shares.

French clubs,

fearful that the RFU plan to

replace the Premiership with

their own franchise system, have

forced the issue in what they see

as a fight for survival.