New Zealand have refused to sanction a showdown between the club champions of the two hemispheres, Leicester and Canterbury Crusaders, on November 30.

Leicester had hoped to host the first meeting between the winners of the Heineken Cup and the Super 12 series at the end of a month when a number of the Crusaders squad will be in Britain on tour with the All Blacks.

Their plan is now on hold after the chief executive of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, Steve Tew, quashed the idea last night. "It will not happen," he said. "We like the idea of a world professional championship decider but there are a number of issues which need to be resolved before it can take place. I hope a long-term solution can be agreed which would make this an annual fixture."

One reason for the NZRFU's refusal to agree to the November 30 date is that the International Rugby Board has arranged a fixture that Saturday between the North and South. The leading unions have given their support to the match in Cardiff but players' associations in the two hemispheres have voiced opposition, citing burn-out, and the English clubs, with league fixtures that weekend, are not likely to release their players.