Bob Carruthers, the Edinburgh owner, offered to take part in mediation yesterday in an attempt to settle his club’s dispute with the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU).
Carruthers admitted that the row, which broke on Monday when the club resigned from the union after a dispute over unpaid fees, had “trashed the reputation of the game”, but he also rejected the SRU’s claim that Edinburgh were barred from playing in the coming season.
“The Celtic League confirmed that we would be playing in the Celtic League and Bath, our English rivals, confirmed that they would be fulfilling their fixture with us,” he said. “The only people in the world who seem to think that Edinburgh wouldn’t be in the Magners League or the Heineken Cup are the SRU.”
Carruthers added that the only alternative to mediation was a long, costly legal battle that could last for 18 months to two years. If that went ahead, both sides would lose heavily and the case could threaten the future of professional rugby in Scotland.
He also suggested that, although he considered a deal over the fees proposed two months ago to be unfair, it could have been the basis for a settlement. “It would be with bad grace, but, yes, we’d take something like it just to end all this,” Carruthers said.
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The Edinburgh owner refused to discuss player contracts, including whether Stephen Larkham, the Australia fly half, is looking for a way out of his proposed move to the club. He did, however, reiterate that if players did want to escape the dispute by moving to another club, he would not stand in their way. That could ease the departure to Perpignan of Chris Paterson, the Scotland captain.
The problem with the mediation offer made by Carruthers is that Scottish Rugby, the trading arm of the SRU, has rejected a privately made arrangement along similar lines. Carruthers is hoping that his public peace offer will encourage the SRU’s member clubs and their representatives to put pressure on the executive to accept.
“We are prepared to move forward. Clearly this is a dispute that needs to be resolved quickly,” he said. “Any rational man would know that in a centre of legal excellence like Edinburgh there are arbitration firms all round the place and we would have this sorted in days. It must be an independent firm of arbiters who would look at this and resolve it in the best interests of Edinburgh and Scottish rugby.
Carruthers was particularly aggrieved by the SRU’s claim on Monday morning that after the club had resigned its associate membership of the union, it was no longer affiliated to the governing body and could not play matches. But by Monday afternoon the union had begun a disciplinary case – clear proof, according to the owner, that the Edinburgh’s affiliation to the union remained unaffected. Carruthers also confirmed that the union had formally started disciplinary action against Edinburgh after they ordered players to train with the club and not with the Scotland squad last week.
He also said that the club will fight the case, if necessary in the courts, and they may boycott the disciplinary hearing, scheduled for tomorrow, if they are not satisfied that the panel hearing the case is independent. However, he reassured all national supporters that Scotland now have complete access to all the players they want from now to the end of the World Cup.