English rugby's foreign legion could find itself demobbed for next season's Heineken Cup and European Conference under plans being drawn up by the tournaments' organisers, European Rugby Cup Ltd. Lawyers are poring over draft proposals aimed at ensuring national sides benefit from the competitions through a cap placed on the number of `foreign' players clubs are allowed to choose in their squad of 22 for a European match.

A foreigner would be defined as a player not eligible to play for the national side run by the union in whose boundaries he was playing. That would affect Irish, Welsh and Scottish players who earn their livings in England as well as colleagues from overseas. Overall, the move could be of benefit to Irish rugby in cutting down the number of players who have been leaving the home front.

The aim of the ERC is to restrict clubs - Ireland and Scotland would not be affected because they field provincial sides - to two or three non-nationals in any one squad but, before it makes a pronouncement, it is checking on the legality of the move.

ERC hopes that because clubs will not be prevented from signing players from other countries, it will not be liable for restraint of trade claims but it is sure to face a storm of protests from the leading English clubs.

Harlequins have 14 non-English players on their books and the ERC has come under pressure from the Rugby Football Union which is concerned that the European Cup is more a vehicle for 30-something overseas internationals to boost their pension funds than a means of helping improve England squad players and developing local talent.

The four home unions have made representations to the European Commission in a bid to change the Bosman ruling which gives the right of players who are out of contract to move freely among EU nations and they expect a decision by December.

The Welsh Rugby Union is this season operating a rule in its domestic game which stipulates that clubs must have at least 18 players who are qualified to play for Wales in a squad of 22 for a league or cup match. ERC expects to be able to reach a decision at its next meeting in Dublin next month and it hopes to pacify any objectors by announcing that that competitions will next season be spaced throughout the first half of the campaign.

Many of the owners of the leading English clubs have protested about this season's format which saw the shutdown of the league programme for the six weeks which the group stages of the two European tournaments took to be completed.

The idea is to interweave the group matches with the league programmes in the four home unions, France and Italy, stretching European rugby from the beginning of September until the middle of January. To achieve that, Scotland, Ireland and Wales have agreed to play no more than two major internationals in the autumn and England, who played four internationals in successive weeks starting on November 15th, are expected to fall in line.

The picture in France is more complicated because their domestic league is being expanded next season into two divisions of 16 clubs, meaning sides will play 30 matches.

The issue of violence is again preoccupying the ERC directors who are studying the videos of three matches, all involving French clubs, which were marred by outbreaks of violence.

One is believed to be the European Conference meeting between Beziers and Gloucester last month. Brive and Pontypridd were each fined £30,000, half the amount suspended until the end of the season, after punch-ups in their Heineken Cup match last month while Pau and Llanelli were fined £20,000 - £10,000 suspended pending good behaviour - following ugly scenes when they met in France four weeks ago.

ERC's lawyers are currently considering a complaint from Llanelli that the fines were unlawful.