Last chance for England to stay in fold

THE English Rugby Union have been presented with a final chance to step back from the brink and save their place in the Five Nations Championship.

Following a meeting of members of the Five Nations television sub committee in London on Tuesday evening, it was announced, as anticipated, yesterday that plans are now formulated for a new four nations competition between France. Wales, Scotland and Ireland to replace the five nations series.

But it was decided to give England what is termed "one last chance to unravel their deal with Sky Television which has caused the threat of their expulsion from the five nations series and to come back with a proposal that will be acceptable to the other countries. There was no optimism abroad yesterday, however, that England will avail of the opportunity.

The text of the statement issued, yesterday following, the meeting on Tuesday carries a sombre message in relation to saving the five nations series that has graced the rugby calendar for most of this century since France became part of the annual competition and the Triple Crown series which dates back to 1883.

The statement said: "The committee has finalised the dates for the Four Nations Championship to be played next year between January and April on a home and away basis involving France, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. This decision will be reported to a meeting of the full committee of these unions next week.

"Between now and then discussions will have taken place in one final attempt to persuade the RFU to save the Fife Nations Championship in its current form."

Ireland was represented at the meeting on Tuesday by Syd Millar, with Wales represented by Vernon Pugh and Scotland by SRU president Fred McLeod.

understand Marcel Martin of France was unable to travel from Paris, but, was fully informed the situation and he had been in discussion at the weekend with the other members of the committee. France is not part of the television agreement that the home unions have with the broadcasting authorities.

Commenting yesterday on the latest development, Millar said:

"There is not really much I can add to the statement we have issued, that lays out the position as it exists. We have given England an out so to speak and a chance to come back and save the championship. This whole affair has been dragging on for months. What is now proposed and in place is the inevitable consequence of England's actions and attitude. I would not be optimistic, but we have given England a last opportunity. It is now up to them.

McLeod said: "It has been strangely quiet in Twickenham over the last week or two add I must say my feeling is one of pessimism. We have given the, RFU every opportunity to modify its approach to the sale of broadcasting rights prior to England's exclusion from the Five Nations Championship. If there is no change in the RFU's approach by the end of next week, England's exclusion will be finally confirmed and we will proceed with the four nations championship."

Yesterday there was nothing concrete forthcoming from Twickenham. They acknowledged receipt of the statement from the other nations but an RFU official said that the English Union would not at this stage be issuing any statement on the latest developments.

It is not alone the annual fixtures with the other home unions in the championship which are at stake for England. Matches at all levels against Ireland, Scotland and Wales will be cancelled. England's ongoing attempts to broaden fixtures with the big powers in the southern hemisphere (which are apparently meeting with some success) will not do anything for their teams at the lower levels. There is talk that the RFU may take legal action against Ireland, Scotland and Wales if they are excluded from this season's championship as the current television agreement does not expire until the end of the season.

But any such action by England will be resisted by the other unions who will point to a blatant breach by the RFU of the long standing agreement and procedure for the sale of broadcasting rights.

There is, too, considerable disquiet in many areas of the English game at the developments and unease at the RFU's unilateral actions in doing the deal with Sky. Feelings are particularly strong in the North of England, notably in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and I gather also in Warwickshire and Middlesex.

There are more than rumblings that an extraordinary general meeting of the RFU could be called and that could have considerable consequences for those in power at Twickenham.

One English club official told me at the weekend that there is major disenchantment with the current position. "What is at stake here is not alone the severance at all international levels with our oldest opponents and friends in the game. It goes much deeper than that. Many thousands of people save their money to go to the five nations matches and build their winters around these trips to the other countries, especially Dublin.

"There is also another factor that those at Twickenham would do well to take into consideration. There are many clubs in the four countries who have long established fixtures on an annual basis built around the five nations series. These are all now going to go by the board. That is nothing short of tragic. We hear a lot about rugby's great ability for forging friendships that endure and the fraternal aspects of the game. Have these, like so much else, n ow been sacrificed in the pursuit of money and what I believe to be a very uncertain future.

Meanwhile the IRFU confirmed yesterday that an official request was received from the Australian Rugby Union on Tuesday asking if the IRFU would agree to a change of date for the international between Ireland and Australia from November, 30th to 23rd. A decision on that request will be considered by the IRFU at their meeting on September 6th and the matter will also be discussed when the International Tours Committee meets in Cardiff next Wednesday.

The IRFU had already agreed to surrender the match between Ireland A and the Australians (so, that Wales could have a one off international) in exchange for a fixture against the All Blacks in Dublin next season.

With the dates of the Ireland Australia and Wales Australia games likely to be November 23rd and 30th, the Australians, who also play Ulster and Connacht, will now meet Leinster on Tuesday November 19th and Munster on Tuesday 26th. This would allow the touring team the traditional four days break prior to an international.