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Rugby Union

Edinburgh withdraw SRU resignation

13/07/2007

The row between Edinburgh Rugby and the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) that threatened to derail Scotland's World Cup bid appears to have been resolved.

Following a disciplinary hearing at the SRU, Edinburgh announced they would be withdrawing their notice of resignation from the association.

"The Scottish Rugby Union accepted Edinburgh Rugby's request therefore Edinburgh Rugby will continue to be associate members of the Scottish Rugby Union," an SRU statement read.

The hearing was conducted to determine any punishment for the club over Edinburgh's withdrawal of 12 players called up to Scotland coach Frank Hadden's World Cup training squad.

However a stand-off between the two parties appears to have ended after the SRU issued a straightforward censure to Edinburgh for breaching regulation nine of the International Rugby Board (IRB) regulations.

The law states that "no union, association, rugby body or club whether by contract or otherwise may inhibit, prevent or render unavailable any player from selection, attendance and appearance in a national representative team or national squad, including training sessions, and any player must be released upon request by his union".

But, in contravention of that rule, Edinburgh withdrew its players, which included captain Chris Paterson among their number, from the Scotland training squad earlier this month because of an argument over funding.

Edinburgh claimed the SRU failed to pay them monies due for their participation in the Magners League and the Heineken Cup.

But after the disciplinary procedure reached a conclusion, Edinburgh "agreed that they would in the future comply with IRB regulation nine" and have consequently released their players today to link up with the Scotland training squad.

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