Francis Baron is predicting a 10% loss in revenue for the RFU © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Francis Baron

Teams: England

The RFU is bracing itself for more than just a battle with Premier Rugby over an extended Premiership season, with the credit crunch knocking on Twickenham's door.

England's home fixtures for the Six Nations are yet to sell out, with the first fixture against Italy unlikely to do so. A combination of England's poor autumn form and hefty prices, with the cheapest ticket starting at £40, have contributed to the highly unusual prospect of the opening game of the Six Nations being played out in front of empty seats.

Tickets rarely go on general sale for Six Nations games, but tickets have been returned to the RFU from clubs and they are also reporting a 27% fall in hospitality bookings. "Focusing on 2009-10, we could suffer a 10% drop in revenue, a big number for a £100million-plus per year business," said RFU chief Francis Baron.

"We should still be able to sell out each match. A question mark remains over Italy - we could fall short by two or three thousand there. All three matches are on public sale and we're having to work hard to achieve sell outs. Even for Six Nations matches it's difficult.

"Hospitality sales for the Six Nations will be down by 27% against budget. It's entirely recession-related. Clubs have always taken up the entire allocation for the traditional games but we're getting returns."

Another worry for the Twickenham top brass is the possibility of having to reassess their bid for the 2015 World Cup, with the host having to make an £80m guarantee for the event, due to strictures placed on them by the current economic climate.

The RFU is set to instigate a global crisis meeting of CEOs from the top 10 rugby nations to debate a coordinated response to the current financial pressures. "Whether we can bid in this current climate is a very finely balanced decision indeed," said Baron. "It is a big ask for any organisation.

"We've been doing a lot of detailed work on the numbers. A decision on whether it's wise to put in a bid is finely balanced indeed. We should leave a no-go decision as late as possible given the recession. To put it bluntly, as a business what we're being asked to is make an £80million guarantee in 2009 for an event that takes place in 2015.

"That's a big ask and will be a very difficult decision to take. One or two governments are prepared to provide guarantees. Our own government have made it plain there won't be any guarantee.

"As a rugby family hopefully we can come up with some conclusions about the best way forward. It's always dangerous when action taken by one union has a knock-on effect on other unions," he said.

With Premiership clubs Newcastle and Bristol struggling to remain afloat in the face of increased economic hardship the RFU has however hinted that it will be looking to cut costs by up to £6m in the next year, a sobering thought for those clubs scrapping to make ends meet.

The union has already set up a helpline for its 2,000 registered member clubs who are possibly under pressure from legal or monetary difficulties, with landlords and banks set to become divisive figures for many small clubs in the coming year.

More to follow.