Stade Français today exacted a measure of revenge for the James Haskell affair during the Six Nations by recalling Ollie Phillips from the England Sevens squad preparing for this weekend's London Sevens tournament, even though the French club's season has ended.
Stade were furious when Haskell, the flanker they signed from Wasps last summer, remained with England during the second fallow weekend of the Six Nations rather than return for a Top 14 match against Toulouse.
The club's president, Max Guazzini, warned there would be reprisals and England were left with no option today but to allow Phillips, the former Newcastle wing who was named the World Sevens Player of the Year in 2009, to return to Paris where Stade's season ended two weeks ago.
Under International Rugby Board regulations, clubs are not obliged to release players for sevens tournaments, something the Rugby Football Union would like to be reviewed.
"We are very disappointed with the decision to recall Ollie as he has been part of the sevens squad for the last couple of years," the RFU's director of elite rugby, Rob Andrew, said. "We have worked closely with Stade this season over his sevens commitments and have not selected him during the season at his club's request.
"Ollie is very disappointed to be missing our home tournament which is fast becoming one of the biggest events in the IRB Sevens series. We will be asking the IRB to further consider the release of players for the series under regulation nine."
The RFU did resolve one dispute today when an independent panel ruled on the issue of who should be paid what on the summer tour to Australia and New Zealand. The union had offered different rates of pay for the top 32 players in the squad and the other 12 who were not expected to challenge for a Test place.
Team England Rugby refused to accept the two-tier payment system and demanded that each player received the same amount, which would have meant the RFU finding another £70,000. Both sides agreed to take the dispute to an independent panel for expert determination and the upshot today was a compromise agreement, binding on both parties, that is worth roughly half what the players were demanding.
The RFU will have to find more money but, with longer tours a feature of the new schedule announced by the IRB this week, it will still be able to argue for a pay differential.
