Code war over RFU funded raids
July 26, 2001

Rugby League chief Sir Rodney Walker launched a scathing attack on the Rugby Football Union today, accusing them of misleading him in the ``poaching'' row between the two codes.

On the day Bradford Bulls star Henry Paul signed a four-year deal with Gloucester, Sir Rodney accused the RFU of funding the clubs' raid of top league talent.

Paul's high-profile switch comes amid speculation that the RFU had made money available from their new eight-year deal with the clubs for them to cherry-pick more big-name players from league, with Wigan's Paul Johnson and Kris Radlinski thought to be high on England coach Clive Woodward's shopping list.

Gloucester boss Tom Walkinshaw, chairman of Premiership Rugby, insisted that no cash from the RFU had helped fund the Paul deal and that he was not aware of any scheme to subsidise big-money switches.

"We have not done a deal with the union - we did not wantn to have any ties," said Walkinshaw in today's Daily Mail.

However, Sir Rodney, chairman of the RFL, said he was considering seeking intervention from the Government to prevent the loss of the sport's star players to union.

In a statement, he said: ``While we are quite prepared to concede that rugby union clubs have the right to approach our players once their contracts have expired and vice versa, what is fundamentally different from previous years is that the one governing body is now making funds available to acquire players from another governing body's sport.

``What you have to bear in mind is that the RFU is a governing body now attacking the sport of another governing body and effectively damaging their ability to compete on the international stage.

``As late as April this year I had meeting with high-level officials of the Rugby Football Union who assured us that they had no intention of damaging our sport and events during the last few days would suggest that we were being misled.

``The RFU are in receipt of considerable government funding and I believe that as chairman of the RFL it is my duty to place the matter before the Minister for Sport, the Right Honourable Richard Caborn MP.

``It is regrettable we have to consider such drastic action but we have to defend our position.''

League officials are still reeling from claims made in Australia by Leicester chief executive Peter Wheeler that several top Super League clubs were in talks about a switch over to union.

Walkinshaw today played down Wheeler's claims, saying: ``There are no talks. There's a contract signed between all the clubs and players and the RFU and that contract lasts for eight years.

``So, unless everybody agrees to do something, then nothing can happen. I think Peter was getting carried away a little bit.''

However, the multi-millionaire Formula One boss believes that league players will automatically be lured to union as it becomes ``the biggest show in town''.

``I think that rugby union will get stronger and stronger, I think you've seen that over the last two or three years,'' he said.

``The structure in union is much stronger throughout the country than league so I would say over the next two years rugby union in its own right will be getting stronger and stronger and, if that's the case, it will automatically attract the best players into it.

``You don't need to do anything particularly artificial to make it happen. If rugby union is the biggest show in town, then all the top people will want to be seen on that stage.''

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