Will Rowlands is on the verge of quitting Welsh rugby with Bath the front runners for his signature.
The 31-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and is a target for a host of Gallagher Premiership clubs. WalesOnline understands Rowlands is frustrated at the current climate in Welsh rugby with the four professional sides unable to offer new contracts due to an embargo on signing players for next season.
The Professional Rugby Board have been locked in talks for months in an attempt to thrash out a long-term funding deal for the professional arm of the men's game in Wales. A deal is very close to being signed off, but it is understood the numbers involved will allow the regions to survive rather than thrive.
As a result, a number of players in Wales are unhappy with their salary banding, and Rowlands falls into this category. No deal has been signed yet, and the Dragons are desperate to hold onto the Wales lock, but a move back across the Severn for Rowlands looks increasingly likely with Bath having nudged ahead of other English clubs in the race for his signature. The Dragons have since admitted they are powerless to prevent Rowlands and others from leaving, which you can read more about here.
Should he opt to return to the Premiership, where he spent seven seasons playing for Wasps, it would spell an end to his international career with Rowlands currently well below the 60 caps required to carry on representing Wales while plying his trade outside of the four regions.
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Whoever is coaching Wales after the 2023 Rugby World Cup will be desperate to have Rowlands at their disposal given the lack of depth in this area. Rowlands has been a revelation since making his Test debut against France in 2020, quickly establishing himself as Wales’ first choice second-row. At the end of last season, he was named Wales men's player of the year by the Welsh Rugby Writers Association.
Once a deal between the WRU and the four regions gets signed off, the Dragons will move heaven and earth to try to keep Rowlands at Rodney Parade, but it may well be a case of too little too late.
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