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UNHAPPY: Scotland coach Frank Hadden.

SCOTLAND are on a collision course with English clubs over the release of players after 10 Guinness Premiership stars were forced to miss the first training session of the season.

Scottish Rugby have made a formal complaint to the International Rugby Board following the decision of Premier Rugby, the umbrella organisation representing Premiership teams, to refuse players permission to attend yesterday’s Murrayfield get-together.

The snub has sparked a conflict head coach Frank Hadden had hoped to avoid after recently embarking on a bridge-building tour of foreign clubs who have Scotland players in their squads.

Despite bracing himself for the absence of some of his exiled stars by a naming a 50-man squad, Hadden was not prepared for the blanket ban.

The 10 Premiership players missing were Alasdair Strokosch, Alasdair Dickinson, Rory Lawson and Scott Lawson (all Gloucester), Sean Lamont and Euan Murray (both Northampton), Rory Lamont and Jason White (both Sale), Gordon Ross (Saracens) and Stephen Jones (Newcastle).

Premier Rugby insist they have abided by new rules agreed with national associations at a conference in November, which only oblige them to release players five days before matches.

Hadden is desperate to secure his players two weeks before each Test and, as well as being angered by yesterday’s no-show, will be fuming after it emerged that Premier Rugby had no intention of budging from a five-day release period.

A Premier Rugby spokesman said: “We are sticking to those release periods and not releasing outside of those periods.

“We have to be consistent that this is the state of affairs, not just for Scotland.”

The IRB, who have yet to ratify November’s decision, were today considering their response to the complaint.