WORCESTER Warriors' chances of hanging on to their skipper Pat Sanderson for the Premiership trip to Leicester in November have suffered a setback after the High Court ruled clubs must release players for England's game with New Zealand on the corresponding weekend.

Premier Rugby Limited (PRL) had challenged the RFU's right to call up Premiership players for the fixture -- a one-off match to celebrate the opening of the completed stadium bowl at Twickenham on November 5.

But judge David Mackie dismissed all four claims by PRL, refused them leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal and gave the RFU costs with an interim PRL payment of £60,000.

Despite the ruling, PRL issued a statement saying: "We will consider seeking leave to appeal and the clubs must now carefully assess the ramifications of this potentially reduced protection from international release and the impact this may have on clubs in the future."

With further legal proceedings still a strong possibility, Warriors director of rugby John Brain is reluctant to comment on the matter. Brain said: "I think at this stage we will just leave that in the hands of the lawyers."

The dispute had centred on whether the Long Form Agreement (LFA), signed by both parties in 2001, required clubs to release players for what they regard as a fourth autumn international.

After the ruling, the RFU's chief executive Francis Baron said: "While we are pleased that the court has upheld our interpretation of the LFA, we remain disappointed that Premier Rugby chose not to settle this matter through common sense negotiation.

"I am sure that the game will welcome this result and I look forward to joining in the planned celebration event on November 5."

Warriors are heading to Devon next week for a training camp.