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LONDON - England's Rugby Football Union (RFU) has shot down a report that it was to set up a super league under its control that would see such famous clubs as Leicester, Gloucester and Bath effectively consigned to the history books.
RFU chief executive Francis Baron reacted to the Sunday Times newspaper report with "a mixture of anger, frustration and disappointment because 99 per cent of it had no basis in fact".
"The suggestion that the RFU would award franchises to Richmond and Bedford when NEC Harlequins and Northampton were successful clubs just down the road was 'daft'," Baron said.
"We have great clubs -- like Leicester, Northampton and Bath -- and that the RFU wanted to build on the success of those clubs. To suggest otherwise was just mischief making. The clubs are a central part of what could be a great future for the professional game."
Chairman Martyn Thomas also dismissed claims the story might have been placed or leaked by the RFU to push other parties towards a middle ground solution.
Thomas said the reported proposals were "so far off-beam to have caused a great deal of distress to clubs and the union".
"The reports were so far-fetched to be in the realms of fantasy," he said.
The RFU officials insisted they were still consulting as part of 'The Way Forward' review launched in May last year.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported that the RFU planned to break the deadlock between the RFU and the country's 12 premiership clubs in spectacular fashion by creating a "Super 10".
World champions England's slump since capturing rugby's biggest prize in 2003 led them to appoint Brian Ashton as their new coach last month after Andy Robinson's reign in charge saw 13 out of 22 tests lost.
In England, unlike New Zealand or Europe's rising power Ireland, top players are contracted to their clubs and not the national union.
This has led to a seemingly unending series of 'club v country' rows since rugby went professional a decade ago and the conflict was cited by Robinson in his parting statement as a reason for England's poor recent form.
England, who have lost eight of their last nine tests, play their first match under Ashton in the Six Nations opener against Scotland at Twickenham on February 3.
- AFP
