Blah Blah Blah, erm, excuse us but...

... can we not think about the fans and the players for a FEW seconds here?!

Players' union chief Damian Hopley urged the two parties [English RFU & Premier Clubs] to find a resolution.

"It is time for both parties to take a leap of faith, get round the table and stop the public slanging matches," Hopley, the chief executive of the Professional Rugby Players' Association, said.

"The patience of both the rugby players and the rugby fans is wearing extremely thin.

"The PRA are offering to facilitate a meeting with both parties at a neutral venue in order to agree a workable solution.

is that a polite way of saying 'put your willies away and sort it out?'

As news came from Paris that the French clubs, under the banner of Serge Blanco's Ligue Nationale de Rugby had voted 14-3 in favour of withdrawal, so Llanelli Scarlets, warned of the dire consequences that the decision will bring about.

"It's a mortal blow for the Celtic nations," said Stuart Gallacher, a European Rugby Cup board member for ten years. "We don't have the financial clout of either England or France and this will make things bloody tough for us all. We're the bridesmaids in this competition. Occasionally either a Munster or hopefully us this year, will make a mark but it's the French and English that bring value and performance."

Llanelli play Leicester in the semi-final of this season's Heineken Cup in a fortnight's time. Gallacher was overseeing plans to transport 14,000 fans from Wales in 80 coaches when the news broke. The club receive £500,000 from the Heineken Cup and around £20million is invested by sponsors and broadcasters.

"We're chucking away the greatest club tournament in the world," said Gallacher. "No-one has argued more with unions down the years than me yet I am scratching my head. We are short-changing sponsors and broadcasters. How the hell are we going to get them back ? They will be burnt by this. They'll go and put their money into rugby league or horse-racing."

Hmmm. Do you remember the big kid - 'I'm bigger than you so we're doing it my way or I'm kicking the ball on the roof...'

The RFU were adamant that they will not sanction any money-making games that the clubs may stage in order to make up the £5.7million shortfall caused by their withdrawal.

"They won't get consent to play fixtures," said RFU chairman, Martyn Thomas. "Their actions are deplorable. The competition is in tatters. If they think that they can snap their fingers to get back and expect sponsors to buy that line of thinking, then they're in for a shock."

Bullying and Arrogance from all parties?

Stripped to its base elements, both the French and English clubs believe that there is still a desire to impose provincial rugby in both countries, a claim rejected by both unions.

Ah, I see - my bro has been reading the Guardian Sports section (excerpt above)...

Bernard Lapasset, the president of the French Rugby Federation, said he would try to bring both sides in the English dispute together again.

"I am deeply disappointed with the decision," he said. "I will get back to the RFU over the next few days to see where we go from here. I will try to persuade them to talk again to the English clubs."

Both PRL and the RFU are entrenched. The PRL statement declared: "LNR and PRL both believe a position was clearly reached last year which confirmed that clubs would have a much greater say in any minimum seven-year agreement, and that they would both hold shares in the new ERC. The clubs remain by this position reached in October 2006 as the basis for any future agreement.

"Regrettably, while the Federation Française de Rugb and the Federazione Italiana Rugby have confirmed this position, the Rugby Football Union appears no longer to accept this. As a result, LNR and PRL clubs are not willing to participate in the absence of a new agreement based on last year's position and which is inclusive of all parties."

Twickenham reacted angrily. A statement said: "Withdrawal from the European Competitions puts PRL and the Premiership clubs in clear breach of clause 5.1 of the Long Form Agreement, which still has two years to run. The RFU will take further legal advice on the developing situation before reaching a final decision on its position over the next few days."

Thomas added: "Our legal advice on PRL's withdrawal from the Heineken Cup is clear, namely that they are in breach of the LFA. The RFU will consider carefully over the next few days what action, if any, it should take in the light of the best interests of the game and what value there would be in forcing the clubs to play in a tournament against their wishes."

Earlier the LNR president Serge Blanco, the former France full-back, said: "Our position is that we are not competing next season in the European Cups. This decision is non-reversible."

But he said there were no plans for an alternative. "We will organise nothing at all next season," he said. "Today isn't about finding another competition."

BlahBlahBlah. Blah. Just. Stop. Posturing. And. Sort. It. Out.

Growthefeckup. For rugby's sake.