Rugby Union: Dispute is Resolved

Wasps will defend the Heineken Cup in a competition that includes the French clubs after the row over next season's competition was resolved just an hour before the start of yesterday's final.

Clubs in France had announced in January they were pulling out in protest at the way the tournament was run. They were also concerned at the proliferation of international fixtures, claiming the club game was being squeezed, and feared fixture congestion next season with the World Cup being staged in France in the autumn.

The Premiership clubs voted to follow the French out of Europe, but intense lobbying by the International Rugby Board chairman, Syd Millar allayed the fears of Serge Blanco, the president of the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, that the IRB wanted to squash the club game in France and England.

In turn, the English and French clubs persuaded Millar that their militancy did not reflect a desire to challenge the authority of the board but merely indicated their frustration at being left out of a decision-making process which had a material effect on their businesses. Millar told the clubs they would be involved in a forum set up to look at the structure of the international season.

With the two sides coming close to an agreement, the LNR, after a meeting yesterday morning, decided to end their boycott, automatically bringing back the English clubs, whose agreed policy was to follow the French.