Rugby: Saracens owner Nigel Wray yesterday threatened to withdraw his players from any potential rescheduled Six Nations Championships matches fixed for either May 5th or 12th, writes John O'Sullivan. He reacted angrily to the presumption that the Six Nations can commandeer dates in May should they be required for internationals but unfortunately for Wray he will not be able to carry out his threat.
Last Saturday's match between Wales and Ireland at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff has been provisionally pencilled in for April 29th but there is the very real threat that the Ireland-England game at Lansdowne Road, scheduled to take place on March 24th, could be postponed because of the foot-and-mouth crisis.
Tentative dates of May 5th and 12th have been mooted as alternatives for that or any other Six Nations games that may be postponed. This has annoyed Wray because those dates have already been set aside for the English Premier League play-offs.
He insisted: "I don't believe the Six Nations cares about the English clubs or the sponsors of the competitions we are scheduled to play in May," he told the London Evening Standard.
"The sponsors have put millions into the game and then treated like this. No one from the Six Nations has contacted us and it's the height of rudeness and presumption." The Saracens supremo then threatened that none of his internationals would be available.
Unfortunately for Wray he will not to able to carry out his threat as he would be in breach of International Board (IRB) regulations. In the IRB Handbook, regulation 9 concerning the availability of players, forbids any club from preventing their players lining out for a national side.
The following are the relevant passages from the handbook:
Regulation 9.1: "A union has first and last call on the availability of a player for selection and appearances for a national representative team or national squad of that union and all attendances associated therewith, including training sessions."
Regulation 9.2: "No union, association, rugby body or club, whether by contract or otherwise may inhibit, prevent or render unavailable any players from selection, attendance and appearance in a national representative team or national squad, including training sessions and any player must be released on request by his union."
Regulation 9.3: "No union, association, rugby body or club may require any payment or other benefit from or impose conditions relating to a player's participation in a national representative team or national squad of his union."
Regulation 9.4: "A player who has been selected to attend or appear in a national representative team of national squad session shall under no circumstances, be entitled to play for a rugby body or club during the period for which he has been, or should have been in attendance with the national representative team and/or the national squad pursuant to this regulation 9."
The IRFU confirmed that they would "follow this regulation right down the line" if any club threatened to withdraw an English-based Irish international.
The English RFU reacted to Wray's displeasure by stating that "the RFU is working closely with the Six Nations and the EFDR clubs to ensure that the Six Nations Championship and the Zurich Premiership and the playoffs can all be completed satisfactorily and obligations to sponsors fulfilled."
The IRFU confirmed that all rugby will be suspended for another week following consultation with the Department of Agriculture yesterday. The union will meet with the Government body today to specifically discuss whether the game between Ireland and England can go ahead.
The IRFU is seeking a further meeting with the Department to seek clarification in relation to the extent to which domestic rugby will continue to be affected. The situation will be reviewed next Monday.
