Welsh rugby could face a drain of top talent amid reports that some players are set for massive percent pay cuts under new belt-tightening measures likely to be introduced into the game this side of the River Severn.
“A number of quality players will leave,” predicted one figure involved in the game here. “Players have short careers and are not going to just accept having their incomes slashed.
“The 60-cap rule on exiled players will have to be looked at as well, because it’s not morally fair to tell certain players they have to play for the regions to be eligible for Wales and then offer them hugely reduced regional contracts.
“At the very least, the cap number should be brought down."
But change certainly looks to be coming. A report in The Rugby Paper suggests there could be pay cuts of 50 percent for certain players at the regions, with an unnamed source saying: “They have been beyond their means for years. It is simply not sustainable any longer.”
WalesOnline has previously flagged up that a salary cap is to be brought in and squad sizes cut.
While some will have no difficulty in finding would-be suitors — Will Rowlands already appears to have hooked up with Racing 92 for next term, while Max Llewellyn is also leaving for Gloucester — others could have problems in a market that has around 100 unemployed players amid the difficulties at Wasps and Worcester.
Delays in getting clarity over offers has meant options are being reduced. That said, Welsh players are still attracting attention.
Dillon Lewis is on the radar of several English teams, while a number of French clubs are searching for top-quality wings with the names of Wales pair Rio Dyer and Josh Adams mentioned as potential targets. However, Dyer is understood to have a year left on his deal with the Dragons while Adams is under long-term lock and key at Cardiff.
“It’s just not a great situation in Wales,” said another source. “Someone like Louis Rees-Zammit is never going to return home if he has to take a pay cut, especially when he can go to France and maybe earn close on a million pounds a year.
“Then you see a promising youngster such as Max Llewellyn heading out of Welsh rugby. You wonder how it has reached this point.”
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