WRU and Premier Rugby in player row 21/10/2010 |
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Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) chief executive Roger Lewis has slammed Premier Rugby, the umbrella body for England's top clubs, over player access.
Premier Rugby says it will not release Welsh players playing in England until 35 days before the World Cup acting on International Rugby Board regulations.
"We're absolutely bemused, as is the rugby world, at the behaviour of Premier Rugby," Lewis told BBC Wales.
But Premier Rugby's chief executive Mark McCafferty hit back, adding that he is "staggered" by Lewis' view.
Lewis said: "Premier Rugby Limited has written to us but obviously the most important body in England is the Rugby Football Union – they are the governing body for the sport – and it's they we will talk to about this.
"To disadvantage them [players] from not being able to play for their country at a Rugby World Cup is scandalous and I think it is deeply, deeply regrettable. It's absolutely extraordinary."
Premier Rugby is within its rights to refuse to release players – a stance usually mirrored by French clubs – under IRB Regulation 9 which states: "The Rugby World Cup assembly period begins 35 days prior to the start of the tournament during which warm-up matches may be played."
"I'm staggered, frankly, that it has been raised as an issue," added McCafferty.
"We don't make these rules. The International Rugby Board makes these rules and my understanding is that the Welsh Rugby Union voted in favour when those new rules were introduced in 2009.
"I'm just really disappointed that Roger Lewis has said he won't talk to us. We are having constructive discussions with a couple of other unions, and I'm sure this is not insurmountable.
"We are not going to stop any player preparing properly for his country for a World Cup.
"So it seems to us to have come out of the blue and particularly come out of the blue against a background where a) the Welsh Rugby Union wrote the rules and b) the chief executive [Lewis] won't speak to us."
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