He concedes the WRU may not have received chapter and verse from

He concedes the WRU may not have received "chapter and verse" from the Neath captain, who has won 44 caps for his country. "My contract starts on 1 July and my house is already on the market," Llewellyn confirmed.If he is impatient to get the matter resolved then so too are Harlequins, who may resort to legal action. "We have been discussing matters with our lawyers and anticipate in the next few days deciding on an appropriate course of action," the Quins' chairman Roger Looker said. "He has been a Richmond council taxpayer since 1 March," a Quins' spokesman volleyed back.The WRU are sticking to their guns, but with a proviso. Selwyn Waters, the chairman of the regulatory and trusts committee, has written to the International Rugby Board asking whether the "180-day rule" is sustainable in a court of law.Llewellyn, 27, has reputedly been offered a four-year deal by Harlequins worth a minimum pounds 250,000, as well as a City job and accommodation for himself and his wife Mara. "Not to our knowledge he hasn't," the WRU retorted."It is my understanding that the transfer application lodged by Gareth with the WRU did not indicate he would have been in compliance with the 180-day regulation," Pugh said.

He said the special meeting had been called to deal exclusively with matters relating to the development of the National Stadium in Cardiff. It is more than a week since the WRU, intent on blocking Llewellyn's transfer to preserve the strength of domestic Welsh rugby, claimed the former Wales captain had not adhered to the International Rugby Board's controversial residential rule.This discretionary rule states that a player moving to a club in the country of a different union must have been a resident there for 180 days before he can play "He has abided by the rule" was Quins' immediate response. And if England are to change their ways, that is as good a place as any to start.. There is obviously something attractive about watching the game in better weather but rugby league is seriously underestimating the competition it faces for the leisure time of its potential public. THE on-off transfer saga of the Wales lock Gareth Llewellyn between Neath and Harlequins is unlikely to be resolved until the Welsh Rugby Union's general committee meeting on 4 April. It had been anticipated tomorrow's special meeting of the committee would discuss the proposed big-money move of Llewellyn to London, which was thrown into doubt after being blocked by the WRU's regulatory and trusts committee. But the WRU chairman, Vernon Pugh, insisted the matter would not be discussed.

Jon Sleightholme, on the rare occasions when he had the ball in his hands, imbued those around him with a refreshing enthusiasm and Matt Dawson, given the right signals from the top, has the all-round game to assert himself at scrum-half. What may be right in terms of results is wrong in terms of evolution. Little by little the technicians in the game's finer arts have been pushed into the background, their skills eroded by lack of use. It was clear last Saturday that even when England attempted to expand their game their backs were unable to contrive openings until the result was beyond doubt.An entire generation of backs is growing up in a school which demands discretion and self-imposed inhibition.

They are capable of so much more.The problem is that by their lack of imagination and innovation - and the disease spreads far below national level - so many of the more creative arts are falling steadily into disrepair. Yet from the railing both inside and outside the England camp at the relentless criticism of their style of play, it would seem that many are content for England to remain a big fish in a little pond. But what is good enough to conquer Europe is hopelessly inadequate for world domination. But of the home countries Ireland have by far the longest to travel.The claim from England's connections is that they are closer to their destination now than they were at the beginning of the season and in so far as they won the championship that is true. As the season progressed, however, England fell back on their traditional strengths.

But as their players discovered during the World Cup, tradition does not sustain and develop performance. The pack, though, is beginning to take shape, albeit moulded by the past master Dean Richards; Graham Rowntree, Mark Regan and Lawrence Dallaglio will be better players next season. They played with spirit at Twickenham and there was a spell in the first half with the ball in the air and the thundering hooves of the pack underneath when it was quite like old times. The national team of the future may well be built around him and there is more genuine cause for optimism than last year. It was one of the more curious anomalies that, after the Scottish match, they appeared as a side that had lost without really being beaten.