The FFR wants to see the top international standard players contracted to the national team. This would allow players greater time in between internationals to train together and would give them a break from the rigours of the domestic game. Blanco and the LNR, on the other hand, are strongly against the idea of selective contracts which they feel would put domestic clubs at a disadvantage without benefiting the national team.Indeed, Blanco feels the FFR’s contract system could have a devastating effect on the clubs. “What interest would these games have for the public and our business partners? It would be asking us to commit hara-kiri,” Blanco protested.He offered an alternative strategy of “providing the French team with players who have been well prepared in their clubs by a championship and European Cup at a high level, but with periods without competition which allow players to recuperate well and better prepare themselves. This presupposes an important rearrangement of the calendar and especially a tightening up of the Six Nations.”The increased number of matches was recently blamed for the alleged use of illegal drugs in French rugby.

Pierre Berbizier, a former France coach, claimed that drug-taking was “a reality” due to the unreasonable demands made on players’ physical and mental condition.The French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, yesterday laid the first, oval-shaped stone of the new National Technical Centre.Based on the successful football complex at Clairefontaine, the centre is intended to improve French rugby from grass-roots level upwards. The building at Marcoussis, Essonne, is planned to open in the autumn of 2002.The creation of the centre has been viewed as a further threat to the clubs’ power, but Jospin said that they should see it as “not a threat, but an opportunity. This centre will consecrate rugby as a people’s sport in a country which appreciates hard work, team spirit and conviviality”.. The French have made half a dozen changes to their Six Nations side for Saturday’s cross-Channel rumble with Les Rosbifs at Twickenham ­ news that left Martin Johnson, the England captain, entirely unfazed. But then nothing fazes Johnson, not even the interminable political wrangling at the heart of the red rose game. “Is it unsettling to play a Test under these circumstances?” he was asked yesterday “Not at all,” came the reply “It’s a situation normal for us.

It would be more unsettling if somebody actually agreed something.”

The French have made half a dozen changes to their Six Nations side for Saturday’s cross-Channel rumble with Les Rosbifs at Twickenham ­ news that left Martin Johnson, the England captain, entirely unfazed. But then nothing fazes Johnson, not even the interminable political wrangling at the heart of the red rose game. “Is it unsettling to play a Test under these circumstances?” he was asked yesterday “Not at all,” came the reply “It’s a situation normal for us. It would be more unsettling if somebody actually agreed something.”
Agreement between the Rugby Football Union and its insubordinate Premiership clubs is a long way off, despite the International Rugby Board’s heartfelt plea for a swift and lasting conclusion to the boardroom strife that has plagued professional rugby in these islands since the summer of 1995. With two potentially explosive RFU meetings on the horizon ­ an SGM later this month and an AGM in July ­ the men in suits are preparing to dish out more “shoe pie” than 16 hulking great forwards are likely to manage this weekend.Johnson, one of the few genuinely statesmanlike figures in the English game, acknowledged the sensitivity of the current situation but managed to stay upbeat about the prospects of a peace deal. “In committing ourselves to the Premier Rugby Partnership [the new contractual agreement between the clubs and the players that threatens the RFU's control of the domestic game at ?te level], we knew there was no chance of an instant solution,” he said “But hopefully, there will be one in time for next season. It’s all about people getting round the table and talking it through.

In the meantime, we’ll keep playing rugby.”Come Saturday, Johnson will find himself playing against a French pack bearing little resemblance to the unit that misfired against the Welsh in Paris last month. Fabien Pelous has been switched from lock to No 8, where he will join the Six Nations newcomer Christophe Milheres in a revamped back row. Abdel Benazzi and Lionel Nallet constitute a new-look engine room, while Sylvain Marconnet replaces the injured Christian Califano at loose head. Of the Tricolore combination that took on England at Stade de France last season, only Pelous, Benazzi and Olivier Magne are still involved Of those, only Pelous and Magne occupy the same positions. There are changes in midfield, too, where Stephane Glas and Xavier Garbajosa are the new pairing.”I am relying on the form players,” said Bernard Laporte, the French coach.

“We are facing one of the best teams in the world, but we are not going to Twickenham to play a walk-on role. We know we are going to suffer, because England are well organised and physically strong. But we want to finish the championship with our heads held high. The English have had hard times in the past, and overcome them.”Laporte’s comments were not disputed by Johnson. “The French are probably the most dangerous side you can play, in terms of their ability to make something out of nothing,” he said.