ERC chairman Jean-Pierre Lux and chief executive Derek McGrath yesterday clung to the belief that recent olive branches extended by the English RFU and the French Federation may prompt the French clubs to relent in their stated intention to boycott next season's European Cup.

Nevertheless, the ERC chiefs sounded almost helpless, with resolutions to the current stand-off in many respects beyond their control. The hub of the problem which led to the 14 La Ligue clubs voting unanimously to boycott next season's Cup was the impasse between the RFU and the Premiership rugby over the latter's expressed demand to have a 50 per cent split of the English shareholding in the ERC.

"For the moment," said Lux yesterday, "we are waiting and I think if nothing changes then Serge Blanco cannot come back and change his position. For the moment what can change is the situation in England between the clubs and the English Union."

To that end, the RFU have offered the clubs between £5 million to £6 million in return for releasing their English Test players en bloc for the November Tests and the Six Nations. This has been interpreted as the first step toward the RFU conceding ground to the clubs with regard to their ERC shareholding and in turn facilitating a French return to the fold. Even so, fundamental problems remain, not least the fixture congestion, as Lux conceded. "Yes, of course, but that is not new. We know that for many years, since the last World Cup. It's a level more, of course, in Serge Blanco's thinking, but we have prepared the document for next season with the Heineken Cup fixtures. It is very hard for the clubs because we cannot start our domestic competition before the end of the World Cup. And after, we have to play five games in the Six Nations, but it's possible."

Lux claimed that the French Federation will relent in their demands on the La Ligue and the leading players by freeing them from France's 2008 summer tour to Australia, as they have done this summer for their two-Test tour to New Zealand, because in both instances they clash with the end-of-season Top 14 semi-finals and final.

Nevertheless, the nagging suspicion remains that the horse has bolted, and that with a lucrative new television deal in the offing with Canal+ for coverage of the French Championship, in many respects it suits Blanco and the French clubs to bow out of Europe next season.

Misgivings have been aired by some French clubs, and the hope persists that Blanco and co can be made to realise how damaging this would be to the image and sustainability of the competition.

Asked whether the tournament would go ahead without the French, all Lux could say was that it would be a board decision, and the ERC board will meet next Wednesday - when they will discuss this possibility - pending another shareholders' meeting.

"There is no suggestion that it won't go ahead. Of course it's a possibility but the objective is to ensure that it continues," said McGrath, who added that "there was an obligation for all parties to sit around the table" and expressed the hope that the La Ligue representatives, ie Blanco, will do so.

Taken at face value, there appears to be no contingency plan in place. "The constitution of the ERC is based on everybody saying yes at the same time, and that's how we operate," stressed McGrath. Indeed, the ERC is unquestionably the most democratic organisation in professional rugby. Alas, at times such as this, it looks like a bad advert for democracy.