ENGLAND's ability to fulfil a busy programme of international fixtures this autumn was undermined yesterday when the top clubs refused to give the RFU a firm assurance that members of the national squad would be released for next Wednesday's training session at Bisham Abbey.

Negotiations between England and Australia, who want to play a Test at Twickenham on November 2nd or 16th, have also been stalled due to the uncertainty surrounding the future of the squad which has not met so far this season.

The acrimonious dispute between the RFU and the English Professional Rugby Union Clubs (EPRUC) hit a new low with a renewed bout of public mudslinging between the two bodies.

Twickenham accused the EPRUC chairman Donald Kerr of "a deliberate attempt to split the RFU and conceal differences of opinion with EPRUC." Kerr berated the chairman of the RFU executive, Cliff Brittle, for allegedly "undermining the peace process." Meanwhile, a growing number of clubs including Orrell, Sale, Gloucester, London Irish, Leicester, Waterloo, Wakefield and West Hartlepool, plan to hold committee and/or members meetings to consider EUC's threat to break away from the RFU on October 11th. Many members and officials have been alarmed by the way the England squad's preparations have been derailed by what they regard as a handful of businessmen who have invested in the clubs within the past year.

The clubs' latest attempt to use the England squad as a negotiating weapon against Twickenham produced an angry joint response from Brittle and the RFU secretary Tony Hallett, whose tersely worded statement indicated a closing of the ranks. Their concern about the continued disruption to England's training plans prompted them to call on EPRUC to "release their players to play for England at the very least to show good will." The first meeting between England and Australia for five years - which would be worth around £4 million to both nations - has been placed in jeopardy because the RFU cannot guarantee a recognisable England team at relatively short notice.

If the fixture is aborted, the clubs and the players would suffer as much as the RFU given that all are desperate to enhance the revenue required to fund the professional game. "Surely there is no reason for anyone to knock us back this time," said John O'Neill, the Australian RFU chief executive, yesterday.

Hallett has made persistent attempts to resolve the dispute with the clubs by means of informal talks with Newcastle's Sir John Hall who exercises powerful influence on the EPRUC board. Indeed, there was reason to believe that the two men had put together the outline of a deal on several contentious money matters before the war of words resumed with Kerr.

The advice of Lowe-Bell, the Parliamentary PR consultancy retained by the RFU, appears not to have resulted in a greater degree of harmony. According to Kerr "We were fairly relaxed about the players attending England training but we now find it too early to comment on whether we will release them. Unfortunately Cliff Brittle has been active behind the scenes in undermining the whole peace process.

"The RFU gave us certain undertakings and in return we agreed to release the players to try to take things forward on an amicable basis. We looked for an amicable parting of the ways on October 11th but it looks like being acrimonious rather than friendly." Kerr's claim that "we have some very ambitious clubs from the lower divisions wanting to join us" may cause those League One and League Two clubs who want to remain loyal to the RFU to think twice before pulling out of EPRUC. Cash-strapped clubs such as Orrell and Gloucester could well find themselves isolated from top professional rugby if they threw in their lot with the scattered rump of the RFU's national leagues.

It also remains to be seen whether the RFU will retain authority over the European Cup and Anglo Welsh Cup now that the English, Welsh and Scottish clubs have agreed to form a European Rugby Federation which would act as an umbrella organisation for all club competitions.

Those who sever links with EPRUC could face European isolation.

However, the unknown factor is the degree of unity that exists within EPRUC. For the moment the RFU have rested their case in effect on a verbal mugging of Kerr.