Andy Robinson launches rule challenge over release of players for World Cup

SCOTLAND are to challenge the IRB's regulation nine again after Andy Robinson confirmed that he is concerned that some of his World Cup build-up will have to be conducted without his Premiership-based players.

The issue reared its ugly head again this week when Gloucester's attempt to release their four Scots, Rory and Scott Lawson, Alasdair Dickinson and Alasdair Strokosch was blocked by the Premiership club owners. Under the umbrella of Premier Rugby Ltd (PRL), they cited the fact that the IRB's regulation nine states that players need only be released for three weeks starting from this weekend for the June internationals.

Despite insisting that this had to be stuck to to ensure player welfare, the PRL did allow any Premiership player to play for England or the Barbarians at Twickenham in a recent friendly match. Butch James had tried to defy them by making himself available for South Africa in tomorrow's game with Wales, but when the Scottish issue reared, he was ordered by his club Bath to withdraw or face the sack. Looking a year forward, the IRB have agreed that players need only be released for 35 days prior to the first game of the World Cup, which, for Scotland, is Saturday 10 September. That means that Scots in the Premiership could face finishing their season in May and not being able to join up with the World Cup squad until 6 August.

Robinson endured his share of run-ins with the Premiership clubs while England head coach after they refused to maintain the release periods for players that had led to the 2003 World Cup win. Little seems to have changed in his views.

Yesterday he said: "What really frustrates me is the spin that's coming out from the PRL, that it's for welfare issues. If it was welfare issues, then why are a number of players playing for the Barbarians and why were players playing last week?

"This rule is only in place for financial reasons. If we had been prepared to pay for the players, then they would have been released. There would have been no issue. But we are not going to pay for players to come.

"As a head coach I have a real responsibility for players' welfare and I'd never put any player in a position where he would have to play if I thought it would affect his welfare. So to say this is in place for welfare is really stretching it.

"That is why we are challenging it. We've asked Gordon McKie (SRU Chief Executive] to look into that. For the autumn internationals and the Six Nations there's not an issue, but there is potentially for the World Cup because it says just 35 days currently.

"These are rules we agreed – it's written down in black and white and we've got to deal with it. But I'm challenging it because I think it's important that we make a representation so we can get some clarity."

Where the waters have been muddied is by the RFU's deal struck with the PRL, involving significant pay-outs to clubs, that will ensure English Premiership players will be with the England squad for many days when those same clubs are preventing their players from training with any other nation, hence the farce of this week where the Gloucester Scots have actually been at Murrayfield but had to train on their own.

The PRL make no secret of the fact they would be quite happy to hinder Scotland's preparation for a tournament in which they will face England in the pool stages, yet there is little likelihood of any changes occurring before the next World Cup.

McKie may be looking forward to the coming AGM and the prospect of being assisted by 'Mighty Mouse' Ian McLauchlan, who will take over as SRU president at the end of this month, and discovering whether the former internationalist and British and Irish Lion could wield any more influence in international rugby's debating chambers.