England's elite clubs have rejected the European Cup in a dispute over the scheduling of fixtures and want to set up their own Anglo-French tournament. Brittle, in a joint statement with Bernard Lapasset, the French federation president, said: "The RFU and the FFR have agreed that they will not support any Anglo-French competition which is outside the organisation of European Rugby Cup Ltd."Peter Wheeler, spokesman for England's top 12 clubs, said: "Our decision remains unchanged The clubs have no confidence in ERC.". Rusedski then held his next two service games for victory, winning the final game with a flourish, hitting two service winners and two aces to give Pozzi no chance of recovery.Rusedski, who reached the final of this event last year, will now meet Jan Kroslak, of Slovakia, in the second round. They have only met once before when Rusedski beat his opponent 6-3, 7-6 in the second round of the Japan Open in Tokyo in 1995.. Cliff Brittle, the chairman of the Rugby Football Union, has escalated the feud between Twickenham and the leading clubs by outlawing the proposed Anglo-French competition. Greg Rusedski, the No 1 seed in the Croatian Indoor Championship in Split, pounded his way into the second round yesterday. After defeating the Italian Gianluca Pozzi 6-3, 6-4 in 58 minutes, Rusedski, who has dropped from sixth to eighth in the world rankings, said: "The court here is a bit quicker than in Zagreb where the tournament was held last year but that will suit my game and gives my serve that little extra zip." Certainly Rusedski, despite five double-faults, served with great zest and allowed Pozzi, a 32-year-old fellow left hander, only one break point in the match.

Pozzi, the oldest man in the tournament, was meeting the 24-year-old Rusedski for the first time and could make little of his opponent's first or second service which he repeatedly returned into the net when he could get his racket to the ball.Rusedski, in contrast, broke Pozzi in the sixth game of the first set for a 4-2 lead, taking it 6-3 in 26 minutes. Then, after missing four break points in the third game of the second set, Rusedski broke through again in the seventh game to go up 4-3. But it is the standard of performance that is important."If you put in a good standard you give yourself a chance of a win If you just go for victory, you can drop short.". You can look back and they'll never erase whatever the result was against South Africa or Australia..."As for Scotland's tactics against the Irish, Telfer, often portrayed as dour in his approach, again showed a refreshing willingness to embrace the new era where rugby is entertainment."The players must be positive," he said "To a coach, winning is important. If they play a district match it's the same."The fact that internationals are remembered is the challenge You are judged on the day.

"If they play a club match nobody bothers with the result really. That's the challenge of top-class rugby."Telfer, the son of a shepherd who as a youngster learned to play using pig's bladders as rugby balls and went on to win 25 Scotland caps, warmed to his theme."I've reminded the players that every match they play is a piece of history It's recorded in a book," he said. I'm not looking forward to it greatly at all."I do look forward to the challenge, but there is an abyss in front of us at the moment, something similar to the situations that the Lions have been in I suppose You don't expect to do well Then things happen and you wait and see. There is a balance between flogging the players and having them up mentally. The guys have got to have a spark left in them."The point will not have been lost on Telfer.