Players’ agent Derwyn Jones has warned Welsh professional rugby’s future is on the line whether Saturday’s Six Nations game against England goes ahead or not.
The match could be cancelled as Welsh players weigh up whether to strike over contract issues, the 60-cap rule and their lack of a voice in decisions that affect them. They were meeting at the Vale Resort on Wednesday after a Professional Rugby Board meeting in Cardiff.
But Jones, who has been representing leading players for close on two decades and has a significant number of his clients in the Wales squad, insists there are hugely important matters that go beyond even the immediate concerns.
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“We all hope that these issues are resolved today,” the former Wales lock turned agent told WalesOnline. “They are hugely important to players and we need the right outcomes on them.
“But there’s a bigger picture, related to the overall financing of Welsh professional rugby. Unless the regions have adequate funding, they may have to run squads of between 33 and 36 players which would have player welfare implications and affect their ability to be competitive when it’s hard enough for them to compete, anyway. It’s a prospect that wouldn’t be fair on the regions or on the players.
“A lot of this dates from the pandemic when the regions were left with debt as a result of the £20m or so loan taken out by the Welsh Rugby Union. The professional teams are paying off £5m each over 20 years at 10 percent interest annually and to say it’s tough for them is an understatement. Is it possible that burden can be eased? It is possibly for the WRU to take over liability for that loan?
“Unless something happens and the regions are relieved of that debt and adequately funded, it could be the beginning of the end for regional rugby in Wales.”
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With pay set to be slashed under new contract proposals in Wales, the 60-cap rule has come under scrutiny with some seeing it as immoral that a player should be expected to accept depressed wages under a new pay structure to pursue ambitions to play Test rugby.
“If the level of funding in Wales is driving down to a point where players have to take up to 40 percent less than their value, then of course it calls into question the 60-cap clause,” said Jones. “I understand why the regions may want to keep it. But their fight should be with the WRU for greater funding rather than prejudicing players with such clauses.”
Jones added that the implications of tighter budgets would potentially be brutal.
"If a club has a squad of 35 and 15 of those players are needed by Wales, then the implications are obvious," he said. "Factor in that teams can expect a significant percentage of their players to be sidelined by injuries at any given time. It means potentially they could be down to around 16 and left to scratch around to make up the numbers, perhaps permitting in some from semi-pro clubs.
"It doesn't bear thinking about for a side to go out to, say, South Africa to face the Bulls under those circumstances. It would be rugby suicide. We surely can't let that happen. It would not be fair on anyone."
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