Wales team in turmoil as Regions crank it up

Wales are in danger of being left without a team to play South Africa in November because of their Union’s escalating conflict with their four regional teams.

The dispute threatens to leave Wales captain Sam Warburton caught in the political crossfire as the Union’s solitary centrally-contracted player with nobody to play for when the new season begins in seven weeks.

“Sam Warburton will not play for any of the regional teams until an agreement is done and there is no sign of that,” a spokesman for the regions’ umbrella organisation, Regional Rugby Wales, told The Rugby Paper.

“We have absolutely no issue with a more effective contractual model as long as it works for both sides but there will be no compromise for some half-baked scheme.  The four of us are bound legally on this issue.”

The Aviva Premiership rule forbidding any of their 12 clubs to field a player contracted to a national Union prevents Warburton from taking refuge in England to stay match fit for Wales.

When they attempted to sign six of their national team earlier in the year, the WRU raised the idea of loaning them to English clubs until Premier Rugby Ltd advised them of their rule.

Warburton, the only one of the six to sign a central contract instead of staying at Cardiff Blues, said last week he hoped to be playing for the Blues on loan next season. Now he finds himself caught in an increasingly uncivil war.

A letter sent from the chairmen of the four regional teams to WRU chief executive Roger Lewis and chairman David Pickering describes the latest break-down in negotiations as “a national disgrace”.

The letter is in response to regional accusations that the Union reneged on a peace deal. “It appears to us that our relationship is at an all-time low and that the true objective of the WRU is to actually starve the regions to the point of financial ruin,” the letter states.

The Regions have given Lewis and Pickering until Friday to reach an agreement after the expiry of the old one on June 30. If that deadline passes without one, the Regions say they will “terminate all discussions with the WRU and concentrate on taking decisions for the benefit of their own businesses”.

They point out that such a step will mean “severe and dramatic consequences for all of us and in respect of which there will be no going back”.   The ramifications will have a serious impact on Warren Gatland and his preparation of the Wales squad with next year’s World Cup looming ever nearer.

Instead of getting the Welsh-based players 13 days before an international, the head coach will get them for five days, the minimum obligation under IRB law.  For any match outside the official IRB autumn Test window – South Africa in Cardiff on November 29 – the Regions say they will not get them at all. That already applies to Welsh players based in England and France.

Gatland had been involved in the protracted negotiations over dual Union-Regions contracts for his Welsh-based squad. “Before he went back to New Zealand last week, everything had been agreed,” Ospreys’ backer Rob Davies said. “The next thing we know is that it’s been ripped up. We can’t go on like this.”

Without an agreement, the regions can only survive by relying on wealthy individuals footing the bill – or selling players. “Part of any survival plan is selling your assets to meet your liabilities,” Davies said. “Our major assets are our players.”

WRU say they “will not respond to the highly emotional content of the document and assures all involved with Welsh rugby that the governing body will continue to work with complete focus on reaching agreement with the four regional organisations as soon as possible.”

PETER JACKSON

*This article was published in The Rugby Paper on July 13

Tagged RRW, Wales, WRU

Article source: http://www.express.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/482552/Plenty-of-room-for-improvement-before-England-s-Rugby-World-Cup-challenge

Wales team in turmoil as Regions crank it up