I do not know precisely how my colleagues feel about the French clubs' threatened boycott of the European Cup, but I imagine my feelings must be typical: a sense of powerlessness and frustration. That we have got to this point shows that the people who manage our sport are simply not up to scratch.

All the players complain about the calendar but the decisions that affect us are taken without our being invited to the table. Is it because the officials believe we are fools, or because they believe we are not interested and will put up with whatever we are told to do?

I have been writing these columns for six years or so and I have been banging on about the need for the sport to establish a coherent calendar for most of that time, because pretty much every major issue that arises goes back to that fundamental point.

I am not so presumptuous as to suggest that the great and the good of rugby should read what I say in the Guardian and act, but the length of time I have been writing about the calendar is a simple reminder that last week's boycott does not stem from a problem that cropped up yesterday. For all we talk about professional rugby, it may look like it and be called that, but just how professional is it?

To be in this situation six months before a new season starts is simply bizarre. Most businesses need to think three to four years ahead and rugby is no different. It looks amateurish and it is dire for the spectators and the sponsors who put the money in. One week the green light, the next week red. And all this with what seem to be turf wars going on in the background.

I cannot imagine the Heineken Cup without the French. It would be devoid of all credibility, as it was without the English clubs a few years ago. The implications are surreal: without Heineken qualification to play for, where will be the interest in many of the Top 14 games later this season? Without the French, who will be in it? Every Premiership club in England, with the National League One teams perhaps in the European shield?

You can argue it is more important now than national leagues - it draws in international sponsors, it has a far greater reach, it has lifted the game in Ireland and Wales, and the international element gives an extra magic - but then you remember the delight of any local derby - Bristol against Bath, Biarritz against Bayonne.

The root of the problem is that next season will be simply crazy in French club rugby due to the World Cup taking up so many weekends. I have heard there will be seven, or perhaps nine, games on Wednesday evenings which is virtually impossible. Each club will need its own hospital to deal with the casualties as players get burnt out and injured.

It is the old problem: there simply is not enough space in the calendar for all the matches, so some hard decisions need to be taken. At the moment everyone is pulling in different directions but there will be those who have to suffer for the common good. Professional rugby is still a young sport in terms of developing its structure and everyone needs to move a bit.

The RFU have to realise that they are not the masters of the universe and the French also have to ask themselves some questions. Is there enough calendar space for 14 clubs in the French championship in a single pool? Could they move to a match every five or six days - better in my view than three in seven days every now and then - bearing in mind that a lot of injuries are picked up in training. Should clubs be made to have a minimum number of players in their squads?

The officials have to remember what the tournament has brought to the sport in the northern hemisphere. This is a competition that is working really well. The Heineken Cup is a golden egg in the hands of the men who run the sport -they must be careful not to kill the goose that laid it.