RFU-Premiership World Cup talks 'encourage' IRB chief

International Rugby Board chief executive Brett Gosper said Thursday he was optimistic a deal between England's Rugby Football Union and the country's Premiership clubs would be agreed ahead of next year's World Cup.
England, the birthplace of rugby union, will stage the eighth edition of the World Cup in September and October 2015.
That coincides with the traditional opening months of the English rugby season.
But IRB regulations state no elite club matches should take place while the World Cup is in progress.
With the preceding English season due to end in May, the country's leading 12 professional clubs are concerned by the possibility of five months without income from matches and want compensation from the RFU.
Leicester chief executive Simon Cohen has even suggested that clubs should ignore IRB rules, saying: "If there isn't adequate compensation, we should play through (the World Cup)."
But Quentin Smith, Premiership Rugby's chairman, said Wednesday that talks were nearing a conclusion.
And his comments were welcomed by Gosper, who told AFP in a telephone interview on Thursday: "This is a matter for the RFU and Premiership Rugby (the umbrella group that represents England's leading clubs).
"Any agreement they reached would then have to be considered by the Rugby World Cup board.
"But it seems a sort of agreement is about to happen," the Australian added.
"I'm optimistic it's going to take place, there are encouraging signs."
Gosper's comments came after Smith had tried to lower the temperature of what was threatening to become a heated 'club v country' row by insisting talks were heading to a resolution.
"We're all looking for a swift outcome, something that is in sight," Smith said. "The dialogue doesn't have a timeline, but it's at a very advanced stage.
"They're not hostile negotiations and it would be really disappointing if we couldn't work through this."
There have been reports that Premiership Rugby is looking for a £14 million ($23 million, 18 million euros) compensation package in return for shutting down the league in September and October, having rejected a £6m offer from the RFU.
The final game of the 2014/15 English regular season will be on the weekend of May 16/17, with the World Cup quarter-finals starting on October 17.
It is the length of the proposed break from club rugby that is central to Premiership Rugby's concerns and Smith said there was no question of trying to 'cash-in' on the World Cup.
"There will not be a single pound going to the benefit of any club, it's about dealing with the losses that will inevitably occur," he said.
"There has been detailed forensic analysis of the clubs' accounts.
"All of them have different accounts and circumstances and we arrived at an estimate of the loss. It's not a figure plucked out of the air.
"Notwithstanding their difficulty, the negotiations are making progress. It's a work in progress.
"There's no emotion, what's critical to us is that our problems are dealt with with understanding, fairness and commercial reality."
Source: AFP