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Pictures: Meet the men with the future of Welsh rugby in their hands
The existing agreement between the Welsh Rugby Union and the regions runs out today.
So what happens next? What changes now? Well, not a lot is the answer.
July 1 will be pretty much like June 30 in Welsh rugby.
It’s a bit like Millennium Eve really. Some people thought the world was going to end come January 1, 2000, with the Millennium bug wreaking havoc. As it turned out, life carried on as normal.
And it will be business as usual in Welsh rugby tomorrow.
Even though no replacement for the existing Participation Agreement has been put in place, it won’t be a case of the regions ceasing to exist.
Although they are technically no longer being funded by the WRU as of tonight, they will still carry on as normal.
The Scarlets, Ospreys, Blues and Dragons will all continue preparing for next season, with players and staff turning up for work as usual.
The regions are not due any money from the WRU tomorrow, so it won’t be as simple as the tap being turned off immediately.
If the existing PA was rolling over, the next payment from the Union wouldn’t be due for another month or so.
Of course, if no settlement is reached before then, the situation becomes very different.
It will be a case then of how long can the respective regions carry on without WRU funding?
How long will they be able to pay the wages and meet the bills?
Hopefully it won’t come to that and, thankfully, the signs are that it won’t.
At last…Peace in our time could be just around the corner
I know it’s tempting fate, but the prospects for peace seem to be more positive than they have at any time during this whole dispute.
As I understand it, the WRU have put a financial package on the table – as part of a new Rugby Services Agreement – and the regions have accepted it in principle.
So what’s the hold up? Well, there is still a lot of detail to be thrashed out.
Key issues such as the nature of any central or dual contracts, international player release and overseas player quotas all have to be resolved and that could take a few weeks yet.
But, generally, things appear to be progressing well.
There was a seven-hour meeting on Friday when rugby issues – such as the numbers of non-Welsh qualified players – were discussed, with Warren Gatland in attendance.
And a follow up meeting is taking place today.
There are still plenty of ‘i’s to be dotted and ‘t’s to be crossed, but we do seem to be getting there slowly.
Crucially, there seems to be an acknowledgement that a deal simply has to be done. There is no alternative.
So talks continue and for the time being everyone carries on as normal.
The regions were due to receive the latest installment of European competition money today and they are able to plod along for the time being, with the growing hope that the settlement with the Union will soon be signed off
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The key financial details…
As for the financial details of the new deal, well everyone is remaining pretty tight lipped over that.
Under the existing PA, the regions receive £6.7m between them from WRU central funds.
That covers issues such as international player release and overseas quotas.
Their argument has been that the Union funding has failed to keep pace with spiraling player wages.
The suggestion is they had been looking for about £4m more, taking them up to around £10.7m.
It would appear the two sides have reached agreement over a figure somewhere in the middle.
One figure I have heard bandied around is £8.2m, but both sides are keeping their cards very close to their chest on this front and understandably so.
Central contracts…will they happen?
It’s no secret that the WRU had secured an additional £2m a year from sponsors to cover the central contracting of star players.
Under this arrangement, players would be contracted by the Union but released free of charge back to play for their regions.
That would, in turn, free up money in the regions’ budgets to spend on other squad players.
Whether that kind of arrangement is part of the new RSA deal remains to be seen, while it will also be intriguing to see whether we end up with central or dual contracts.
All will be revealed in the fullness of time. For now, life goes on.
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The future of Welsh rugby...Everything you need to know as participation ...
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