Fresh calls were made yesterday for November's match between the hemispheres at Twickenham to be abandoned, after claims that England's leading players had been branded mercenaries by the International Rugby Board.

The International Rugby Players' Association, whose members come from England, France, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, is boycotting the event, which has been arranged to raise money for developing nations.

The November 30 date coincides with a round of the Zurich Premiership and the Celtic League quarter-finals. The English clubs have refused to release their players and the England manager Clive Woodward has turned down an invitation to take charge of the northern hemisphere team.

"The board should cancel the game," said Damian Hopley, chief executive of the England Rugby Players' Association. "Things are turning nasty and we have had a fax from Chris Rea [the IRB communications manager] threatening to expose us as money-grabbers.

"He refers to a meeting we had with the board at the beginning of the month when, as a yardstick, we suggested the players be paid £10,000 each with a win bonus going to the fund for the developing unions. We also suggested the IRB make a donation to the IRPA. We were not making a demand, because Premier Rugby had not agreed anything.

"The board are trying to say that the players are refusing to turn out because they are only being offered their normal international match fee of £3,000, but that is far from the case. It is a matter of principle. This is a game too far in an already hectic season. Not even the offer of £20,000 each would persuade the players to change their minds."

Hopley admitted that players had turned out for five- figure sums for the Barbarians against recent touring teams. "That was about kudos more than cash," he said.

Rea countered last night: "I am staggered by this allegation. It defies belief. All I would say is that in our correspondence and communication with the ERPA going back more than six months, issues of principle such as burn-out and congested fixture lists have never been raised and I am unaware of any comment from the IRB about players being money-grabbers. The game is going ahead on the basis that the best players will be available. The coaches for the two teams have been picked, with a cap placed on the number of players from each country."

· England Rugby Ltd, meanwhile, hopes to have time-keeping facilities at all Premiership grounds next season, after recent controversies over the amount of injury-time at matches.

· The England and Bath lock Danny Grewcock's appeal against a five-week suspension for reckless use of the boot will be heard in a London hotel tonight. If it is upheld he will be out of action until the end of next month.