The top French clubs have voted to continue playing in the Heineken Cup for next season.

At a meeting this afternoon near Paris, representatives from the Top 14 agreed to the demands of the French Rugby Federation to remain part of the ERC-run tournament for next season.

The vote appears to have ended the possibility of a breakaway competition with the English Premiership clubs.

The French clubs have now set themselves a deadline of next February to try and convince the English teams to also perform a u-turn on their threat to withdraw from the Heineken Cup.

We will be discussing the development on Off The Ball tonight.