Premiership Rugby will demand 50% of the match revenue or "refuse to release England players for a proposed showdown with New Zealand at Twickenham in November," according to Lowe & Slot of the LONDON TIMES. The clubs "hold the whip hand" because they own the players and they discovered Wednesday that the Rugby Football Union had "begun talks with New Zealand over the lucrative extra fixture without consulting them first." The RFU would "need the clubs to back the fixture" because it falls outside of the int'l window and is not covered by the £225M ($278.3M) agreement, which covers access to England players, that was struck last July. The terms of that deal include Premiership Rugby "receiving half of the income" from a fourth autumn int'l. That would be the "starting point for their negotiations." A Premiership Ruby spokesperson said, "We have not been asked for our support. We will need to understand the details of the proposal" (LONDON TIMES, 3/16). In Auckland, Gregor Paul reported the "biggest hurdle not yet cleared in paving the way for the dream clash between England and the All Blacks is money." The RFU "made the All Blacks a good offer, but it is not the offer the New Zealand Rugby Unions wants." The NZRU "made it clear" it wants "half the revenue generated" and so far has not been offered that much. It will hold out, only agreeing if England offers that "magic figure." But it "will hold out without much confidence" it will get what it wants. The price is high and the RFU will be "reluctant to set a precedent," even though it has agreed to revenue sharing games in the past (NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 3/16).
