Scottish rugby officials have come out fighting against proposed changes in international regulations that they say could make their jobs almost impossible, while widening the gap between the rich and poor rugby nations. Gordon McKie, the chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), says the new rules would “challenge our very existence and competitiveness”.

If the regulations are changed, the immediate effect might be to cost Scotland their national coach. Frank Hadden has hinted that the draft proposals could force him to reconsider his position if they came into force. “When you see that coming you have to think long and hard about the future and what you can contribute,” he said, adding that problems with access to players had contributed to this season’s troublesome RBS Six Nations Championship and the new proposals would make the position even tougher.

Whenever Hadden does depart, battling against such a disadvantage would make it even harder for Scotland to recruit a top-quality replacement. There are already suggestions that the lack of anybody to take over helped to cement his position after the Six Nations review that cost George Graham and Alan Tait their jobs.

The draft regulations could mean that when Scotland play New Zealand in November, some Scotland players could be available to take an active part in just one training session before the match, while the All Blacks will have been preparing for the game for three weeks.

The proposals have come about after the International Rugby Board reviewed the regulation that covers the release of players from their clubs to play and train for international matches. The SRU accepts that at the moment it is unworkable, but says that the changes being proposed would play into the hands of the big, wealthy unions, such as England and France, and penalise the smaller ones. This would undermine the whole of international rugby by turning it into a club for wealthy unions.

“All we ask is a level playing field but as the new regulation is drafted, parity will not prevail,” McKie said. “For example, the Rugby Football Union in England have a deal that will give them significant advantages over other international nations. We can’t give up, we have a duty to ensure that the integrity of international rugby is preserved. We have to make sure the international game remains competitive instead of powerful nations getting even more powerful.”

The issue is over players who play their club rugby in one country but represent another. At the moment the clubs have to release them for international training sessions and games, but the draft proposals would drastically cut the number of training sessions and force the clubs to release the players only five days before matches. The wealthy unions in England and France, however, can afford to pay the clubs to release the players earlier - and England have done exactly that.

As a result, Scotland could be faced with the position where key players have had to turn out for their clubs six days before an international. It would be the Wednesday of that week before they would be able to take an effective part in training, giving them one session before they start to rest in preparation for the contest.

In the meantime, southern hemisphere nations, who do not have this overlap between club and international seasons, and rich countries, who can afford to buy access to their players, will have a significant advantage.

“It is not just us, it will affect countries such as Italy, Argentina and the Pacific Islands nations as well as the likes of Spain, Portugal, Romania and Georgia. It is an issue that the entire international game is facing. Were the new regulation to be enacted as currently drafted, it would pose significant challenges to the sport,” McKie said.

At the same time, the SRU recognises that it has to sort out many of its own issues. Wales have already taken action by stating that only players who are already contracted to play outside the country will be selected for the national side, and though Scotland, with only two professional teams, cannot do the same, the changes increase the pressure on the union to repatriate leading players.