A four-hour meeting between the leading clubs and the Rugby Football Union yesterday failed to resolve the vexed issue of the release of leading players for elite training to prepare for next year's World Cup.
Both sides maintained that progress had been made but further talks will be held later this month. The England manager Clive Woodward wants to have up to 60 players available for 20 days outside international weeks and he wants the programme to start with a two-day camp at the beginning of next month, a date that falls between the opening two weekends of the Zurich Premiership.
Woodward, who angered the clubs last May by inviting players and agents to a presentation of his plans, did not attend yesterday's meeting of the board of England Rugby Ltd, a body made up equally of officials from the RFU and the clubs.
The clubs, who will have to operate for the first three months of the 2003-04 season without their World Cup players, are concerned not just at the number of days Woodward has called for but also the timing of some of planned sessions.
"We moved closer together," said one official after yesterday's meeting, "but there are issues which still have to be resolved. The mood was amicable and everyone hopes this issue will have been put to bed by the end of the month."
The leading Welsh clubs have declared peace with their union after a turbulent year. They have agreed to ration their Test squad players to a maximum of 20 appearances next season and in return the dual contract system has been reactivated.
More than 70 players will be given dual contracts, worth between £10,000 for Under-19 players to £40,000 for established internationals, and the money will go directly to the clubs. If a club exceeds the 20-match limit without permission, it will be fined.
"We will be flexible," said the Wales coach Steve Hansen. "If a guy has played 20 matches and his club is in the Heineken Cup final of course he would play."
Alan Phillips was yesterday appointed the £65,000-a-year manager of the Wales squad and the Welsh Rugby Union announced that clubs would qualify for the Heineken Cup on their performances in all competitions, not just the Welsh league.
