The Dragons are resigned to Wales winger Jonah Holmes leaving the region at the end of the season after losing his wage appeal to the WRU. Seven-times capped Holmes was unhappy with the figure he was offered by the Union, who decide the salaries of the elite 38 home-based players under their wage banding system.
He lodged an appeal, which was supported by his region, who he joined in 2020, but that was rejected. Players in the elite 38 effectively have 80 per cent of their salaries paid by the Union out of the first tranche of the Professional Rugby Board distribution pot.
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With the out-of-contract Holmes not in that group, the Dragons would have to pay all of his wages out of their own playing budget and they are not able to offer him a deal that would keep him on board.
Confirming he was resigned to the 29-year-old heading for pastures new, director of rugby Dean Ryan said: “The situation is quite clear. He has turned down a national 38 contract, I presume to explore other options. I don’t know what they are, but it’s out of our control to be able to continue a conversation at the levels the national 38 supported.
“We have been quite transparent with Jonah. Without national 38 support, we can’t offer a contract of a value that he is looking for. That takes him into other markets. We supported him to appeal, he wasn’t successful and we were frustrated with that. That’s allowed him to go to other markets. I don’t know what the outcome of that is. We don’t have the money to support an offer to him now.”
It remains to be seen where Holmes will end up and whether another region may come in for him, but there has to be a decent chance of the former Leicester, Yorkshire Carnegie and London Welsh wing returning to England given he has no elite 38 contract in place.
That would mean him becoming ineligible for Wales under the 60-cap rule, but he has fallen out of the reckoning for Wayne Pivac’s team this season. Since playing against Canada and Argentina last summer, he has been overlooked on the international front.
