English clubs retreat

The English Rugby Football Union should be able to enjoy a comparatively quiet weekend following yesterday's retreat by England's leading clubs from threats of an imminent breakaway.

At some stage in the near future - and next Wednesday's RFU management board meeting is the next important date - the 12 Premiership clubs will renew their calls for the urgent payment of monthly installments totalling £600,000 sterling apiece that they insist are outstanding under the terms of the Rob Andrew plan for the future of English domestic rugby.

However, it swiftly became obvious yesterday that the Bristol chief executive Nick de Scossa's battle cry at a supporters' meeting on Thursday night, claiming the elite clubs would split from Twickenham on Monday, was not a position shared by English First Division Rugby (EFDR).

EFDR will continue to put pressure on the RFU to resolve the lengthy dispute over promotion and relegation from the Premiership, the stated reason for the funding delay, but De Scossa's intervention seems to have been a premature, if not fanciful, case of sabre rattling.

Any breakaway group would find themselves isolated. The Heineken Cup organisers confirmed yesterday that clubs outside the control of national unions would be ineligible to compete.

Golf: America's Tom Byrum extended his advantage at the head of the Invensys Classic leaderboard to two shots after a third-round seven-under-par 65 took him to 21 under in Las Vegas.

But Billy Andrade and Mike Weir both scored 63 to move into contention on 19 and 18 under respectively.

Scott McCarron and Blaine McAllister share fourth spot on 17 under after rounds of 66 and 68 while John Cook is alone in sixth after a 65 took him to 16 under.

Among the group tied for seventh on 15 under are Phil Mickelson and the cart-riding Casey Martin, who both went round in 67.

Athletics: Maurice Greene and his United States 4x100m relay team-mates apologised in Los Angeles yesterday for their antics after winning Sydney Olympic gold, cavorting that prompted thousands of angry complaints.

Greene, Jon Drummond, Brian Lewis and Bernard Williams captured the Olympic amused the Stadium Australia crowd but upset Americans with a lengthy victory lap and playful moves on the medal podium.

"It has really made me feel bad about the whole situation," Greene said. "We were on the US Olympic team, representing the USA with what we did after, our celebration. People were offended and we are truly sorry."

Tennis: Tim Henman, aiming for his first title since 1998, beat Spain's Fernando Vicente 6-4 7-6 to reach the semi-finals of the CA Trophy in Vienna yesterday. Frenchman Cedric Pioline, the only other seed to have survived the first round, beat local hero Stefan Koubek 6-3 6-4 in his quarter-final.

Sixth seed Henman next meets Switzerland's Roger Federer, who beat Dutchman Richard Krajicek 6-4 6-3.

Eighth seed Pioline set up a semi-final with Germany's Olympic silver medallist Tommy Haas, a 2-6 6-3 6-1 quarter-final winner over Frenchman Jerome Golmard.

In Zurich, second seeded American Lindsay Davenport cruised past compatriot Chanda Rubin 6-2 6-4 on Friday to move into the semi-finals of the Swisscom Challenge and extend her unbeaten run in Switzerland to 19 matches.

Davenport will now meet Austria's Barbara Schett who brought third seed Nathalie Tauziat's 15th appearance in Zurich to an end, stopping the veteran Frenchwoman 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Sixth seed Jennifer Capriati, a winner in Luxembourg two weeks ago, battled past number four Anna Kournikova 7-6 6-4 and set up a semi-final with world number one Martina Hingis.

Rallying: COLIN McRAE has received the all-clear to race at next week's San Remo Rally after undergoing an operation to fix a broken cheekbone.

The Scot underwent surgery on Monday to insert a metal plate into his left cheekbone which was broken in a high-speed crash during the Corsica Rally on September 30th.

Snooker: England's Stephen Lee will face a World Snooker Association disciplinary committee after testing positive for cannabis. The world number five has been asked to appear on November 14th in Bristol after the banned drug was detected in a routine test at the Champions Cup in Brighton on August 28th.