RFU warns clubs over European boycott

THE Rugby Football Union has written to Premier Rugby and the chairmen of all 12 Guinness Premiership clubs highlighting the stark legal implications of their proposed Heineken Cup boycott.

The leading clubs in England and France voted not to participate next season in a row with the RFU over shareholding and voting rights of European Rugby Cup (ERC) Ltd.

But Twickenham’s top brass warned the clubs that failing to play in the Heineken Cup would invalidate the Long Form Agreement, the blueprint for professional rugby in England which runs until June 2009.