RFU get 24 hours to stop break away

The RFU has been given until tomorrow to sign its long-term partnership agreement with its professional clubs and avert a breakaway which would have dire consequences for England and the British Lions.

The clubs, whose payment of £1.8million each from the RFU hinges on the outcome, are angry at what they see as persistent stalling tactics by Twickenham over a deal which was approved by the Union's 61-man council almost three weeks ago. 'Some people are ready for war,' said one club chief executive. 'If they don't deliver, we break away.

'What we are talking about here is the RFU's inability, because of its constitution, to govern the game. We will have to go off and run it ourselves but we will be releasing the players for internationals.'

However, under International Board regulations, players would be ineligible since their clubs would no longer be members of the RFU.

The Reform Group, the organisation behind April's special general meeting of the RFU aimed at derailing the agreement with the professional clubs, was denounced by Northampton owner Keith Bar-well yesterday as an attempt to 'ruin professional rugby.' He dismissed the group as 'a small band of freeloaders whose aim is to keep the game under the control of the amateurs so they can fill the West Stand and car park at Twickenham and get their sandwiches, while the rest of us rot. It would be laughable if it wasn't so serious.'

'The Scots, Irish and Welsh must look on in amazement as we embark on a policy that will do untold damage to our national team at the very time when it is potentially a world beater. Unless the current situation is resolved very quickly, I see a major problem.'