Plan to restrict England matches

England may have to play some of next season's international rugby matches in midweek because of the increase in Premiership matches at weekends. The major investors are to put a proposal before the English Rugby Partnership, the body which administers the top clubs, which would limit the number of weekend dates available to England to four.

The Richmond owner, Ashley Lebett, wants the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to restrict the number of matches England play each season. "The clubs simply cannot afford to shut up shop for a month because England have first call on our players," Lebett said. He has misgivings about the pre-Christmas timetable of four successive internationals, which starts with Australia on November 15th.

England, who must play two World Cup qualifying matches against modest opposition next year, will have to consider midweek dates for some matches in order to avoid an open confrontation with the clubs. Threats to withhold the leading players from international duty could surface again if the RFU fails to reach agreement with the owner-investors.

Nigel Wray, the Saracens owner, dismissed the prospect of any breakaway by the clubs, but he did call for urgent discussion with the RFU. "All we want is the opportunity to try to generate more income through the turnstile," he explained.

"English club rugby will effectively close down in November because of the international timetable: that needs to be addressed. But I am sure we can all work together to have a strong, sensibly structured club season. It would be good for everyone."

Donald Kerr, the ERP's chairman, said his organisation had set up a series of working parties to consider ways of running the professional game more efficiently. "We have set up for working parties with RFU representation to look at four key issues within the game," he said.