Rugby: Election Threatens Twickenham With More Strife

Tonight's election for the chairmanship of the Rugby Football Union's management board will decide if the civil war that blighted English rugby at the start of the professional era is in danger of breaking out again.

Jack Rowell, the former England coach, has been endorsed by the union's council, but he is being opposed at tonight's special general meeting of clubs by Martyn Thomas, a former chairman of the Reform Group, a body set up at the end of the 1990s to act as a counterweight to the growing influence of the professional clubs.

In stark terms, the election, which was prompted by the resignation of Graeme Cattermole last December after an abortive attempt to oust the RFU's chief executive Francis Baron, is being seen as a choice between a supporter of the professional game and a champion of the grassroots.

However, it is more complicated than that. There are fears that Rowell, because he has been backed by some who supported Cattermole's manoeuvrings, would make a renewed assault on the position of Baron, who has angered the Zurich Premiership clubs by his support for automatic relegation from the top flight.

Baron lost his position as the chief executive of England Rugby Ltd, the body that runs the professional game, after the Premiership clubs and Cattermole had forced a vote of no confidence in him.

Rowell has said that he has no intention of abandoning the principle of automatic relegation, but Premier Rugby has made the issue one of its key policy initiatives and it would look to use the election of Rowell to enforce the change.

Nigel Pomphrey, a board member of the first division champions-elect Bristol, yes terday questioned whether Twickenham would allow Harlequins to go down should the London club finish at the bottom after tomorrow's final round of Zurich Premiership matches.

"I am sure they would not raise a finger if Leeds or Worcester finished last," he said. "Quins have been behind attempts to get round automatic relegation, and if they are the ones facing the drop I can see a deal being done, even if it means increasing the Premiership to 13 clubs."

Thomas rejected an offer of a place on the management board if he stood down to allow Rowell a free run at the chairmanship. He felt he had enough support to win tonight's vote and he has the backing of Yorkshire's 95 clubs despite a plea on Rowell's behalf by the RFU councillor John Spencer.

The consensus is that the vote will be close. The winning candidate will have to put himself up for re-election at the annual meeting of the RFU in July and the power at the SGM is very much in the hands of the amateur ranks: the armed forces hold nearly 30% of the total 1,400-plus vote with the universities having more than 100 votes.

Thomas, scenting victory, has not been as conciliatory as Rowell in his campaigning. "I will not sell the community game down the river for the sake of peace," he said.