This does not include those already playing abroad: Leigh Halfpenny, Jonathan
Davies, Jamie Roberts, Mike Phillips, Luke Charteris and Dan Lydiate in
France and George North, James Hook, Richard Hibbard, Paul James, Ian Evans,
Matthew Morgan, Bradley Davies, Gavin Henson, Dwayne Peel and Ryan Jones in
England. And the policy will only come into action once six of the dual
contracts have been signed. It is thought that the five prioritised after
Warburton are Jones, Faletau, Cuthbert, Jenkins and Scott Williams.
âThe national dual contracts represent a radical step forward in our mutual
aim of retaining Welsh talent here in Wales,â Roger Lewis, the WRU group
chief executive, said. âThe new RSA creates a new rugby environment within
which together we can nurture and develop the professional game in Wales. It
has taken us a long time to reach the conclusion of our negotiations, but
that is because of the complicated structure and radical nature of the deal,
which matches financial distributions with deliverable rugby priorities.â
The regions will now receive much more than their previous core sum of £6.7â
million. âThe RSA delivers £8.7âmillion a year to the regions guaranteed to
be spent on Welsh qualified players with a complex matrix of funding also
guaranteeing a further £3.6âmillion in loan facilities from the WRU
repayable during the term of the RSA,â the statement said. âEach region also
receives a one-off £500,000 payment on signature of the new RSA.â
The protracted row began long ago but it escalated after Christmas when the
regions refused to sign an extension of the existing Participation Agreement
with the WRU. The deadline was Dec 31, with the agreement running out on
June 30. On Jan 6 the WRU proposed its new RSA, which has been the subject
of negotiation, discussion, anger and, sometimes, ridicule ever since.
At the heart of the problem was that the regions felt that there was not
enough money on offer, while the WRU, mainly because of a fairly damning
report by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers in late 2012, were unsure that
the regions, with their crippling debts and poor on-field performances, were
worth investing in.
At times both sides have been as bad as each other, and the impasse reached
its nadir when Warburton was unable to play for the Blues in a pre-season
match because of an agreement between the regions not to select any
centrally contracted players. He can now play against Leicester this
evening.
Nigel Short, the chairman of RRW, said: âFollowing long and detailed
negotiations, RRW is satisfied that the new agreement with the WRU creates a
fair, progressive and credible foundation to protect and support the best
interests of Welsh rugby into the future; with the core objective of
delivering a sustainable and competitive professional game in Wales.
âThe new agreement is a positive step forward, with plenty of hard work still
to be done to ensure that the game in Wales prospers, works in partnership
and develops.â
The agreement also brings the return of a Wales A team, as well as the
transferring of the running of the regional academies from the WRU to the
regions, with £600,000 put aside per annum.
Wales will play a maximum of 13 Tests per season, with dual-contract players thought to be expected to play no more than 31 games a season. There will
also be a 13-day release period for Test players before the Six Nations and
autumn series.
There will be a maximum of six foreign players permitted at each region, along
with two so-called âtime-serversâ qualifying for Wales after three years
residency. Up to three players from each region will also be available for
the Wales sevens squad. Each year regional players will take part in
training camps at the WRUâs National Centre of Excellence at Hensol in the
Vale of Glamorgan.
- Mick Cleary: Welsh rugby’s peace deal is only the
start
Welsh rugby"s civil war ends with £60m peace deal between WRU and the regions
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