Wales Rugby

Welsh stars had demanded the 60-cap law be scrapped, a place for a Welsh Rugby Players' Association representative on the Professional Rugby Board and for the ...

Well, there appears to be a difference of opinion over the cap rule between the WRU, Rugby Management Board and the PRB. One party wanted it scrapped entirely, another wanted it at 20, while the regions preferred 40 caps but in the end, they appear to have agreed on a 25 cap limit. English Championship side Ealing Trailfinders have been exploring the possibility of leaving the Rugby Football Union and joining the WRU in order to enter the URC, which could be a way around this given they would allegedly receive far less money than the remaining three regions. It’s not a great reflection on Welsh rugby and the WRU and they have had a disastrous last couple of months. "The players will be provided the options of having the fixed variable element to their contract or a fixed contract with a guaranteed salary. "There is also an argument surrounding the soon-to-be defunct National Squad 38, which sees the WRU providing a payment to cover 80% of a player's wages if they are in Wales' elite 38-player cohort. "Couple this with the fact benefactors will have to underwrite any losses and you can understand why they are annoyed. And Ken and I and some of the senior players will be meeting more regularly than perhaps we have been in the past." In simple terms, a player could get the choice between signing a contract of £80,000 with no bonuses, or a contract of £70,000 which could potentially rise to £90,000 if he meets certain appearance or performance markers. "We have had significant contractual concerns and have compromised on all the points raised. "As the WRPA we are representing all Welsh rugby players and what’s going on at regional level is, in some ways, different to what’s been going on with the Wales boys. Confirming that the Wales Rugby Players Association would have representation at Professional Rugby Board meetings, he added: "Gareth Lewis, Chief Executive of WRPA attended his first PRB meeting earlier today.

The Six Nations match between Wales and England in Cardiff this Saturday could be cancelled if a satisfactory agreement is not sought.

"To fathom the fact we might not do that because of the severity of the situation is very real, but it's the last thing we want to do. "We're very respectful to society as a whole. It's hard to deny, but it's the very last option. "Ultimately, if you treat people badly for long enough, you get to where we find ourselves. Wales have started their Six Nations campaign poorly under returning head coach Warren Gatland, with heavy defeats to Ireland and Scotland to underline the issues faced at present and a strike would trigger an all out crisis in the union. This will be attended by players representing the four Welsh regions, as well as those who play for the national team, with those who represent Wales being centrally contracted the the Welsh Rugby Union.

Wales players will not take strike action after reaching an agreement with the Welsh Rugby Union amid their dispute over contracts, with Saturday's Six ...

Rhys Webb gave a little bit away by saying "I've got my gum shields ready, read into that what you want", which was when we started to think that maybe the game was on. He said "no decision as yet" and we were confused as to what was happening. Then arrived the WRU representatives and the representatives from those regions to meet with those players. "The fact we had to make a stand, the collaboration and conversations that have taken place over the last 10 days or so, have shown that some positive resolutions can be found. Any doubt over Wales' meeting with England on Saturday has now been removed and the game is definitively on. Everybody in Welsh Rugby, we need to pull together now and find the best way forward.

Wales's Six Nations match against England in Cardiff on Saturday will go ahead after last-ditch talks produced an agreement that has averted the threat of a ...

“Of course it has been a distraction with everything that has been going on, but I have got to commend the players’ professionalism in this. “With the events of the last six to eight weeks everybody in Welsh rugby needs to pull together now to find the best way forward. As a result, the Wales players gave the WRU and the PRB a set of demands to meet if strike action were to be averted. We felt we had to make a stand, but the conversations that have taken place over the last 10 days or so have shown that some positive resolutions can be found. The reputational damage suffered would have been catastrophic – the captain, Ken Owens, said on Wednesday that Welsh rugby had already become a “laughing stock” – and Six Nations organisers would have been reeling with the match due to be broadcast in the BBC’s prime Saturday late afternoon slot. The Wales squad were adamant they would down tools for the lucrative fixture in Cardiff if the Welsh Rugby Union did not grant concessions to their demands over contracts, but that drastic option has been dodged after a breakthrough was finally reached.

The Red Rose skipper insists his players are fully focused on ending a run of three straight Principality Stadium defeats on Saturday. But as England welcomed ...

“Aside from his playing ability, he gets more out of the players around him. “The guys have been outstanding the last couple of days, and we’re looking forward to Saturday. “To have him back in training has been great,” said the rugby league great. “From what I’ve heard, yeah (I sympathise),” said the Saracens star. It’s great to have him back. “I don’t think they’re like that.

Wales' players have withdrawn their strike threat for Saturday's Six Nations clash with England after reaching a comprise with their Welsh rugby bosses on ...

'I was not aware of any of the issues at all, no,' said Gatland. 'It finally came to a head so I think we have all been asking for things to get sorted. The key sticking point is that the contract structure would incorporate both fixed and variable elements. Sportsmail understands Wales' players were furious at being put under pressure to withdraw their strike threat and agree to the terms proposed by the WRU Sportsmail understands Wales' players were furious at being put under pressure to withdraw their strike threat and agree to the terms proposed by the WRU. Players set a deadline for Wednesday for their three main demands to be met the WRU - or else they would strike - and they have now come to a compromise.

Wales' Six Nations match against England will go ahead on Saturday after the Welsh players decide against strike action.

"If we can continue to do that in the future, we don't end up in a position like this. "There has been huge frustration over the last number of months and it is disappointing that it got to this stage. We are going to make sure we don't get into this position again. Walker and Wall attended a virtual WRU board meeting before a further meeting with Wales captain Ken Owens. "It has been a distraction with everything that has been going on, but I have got to commend the players' professionalism in this," added Owens. "I understand the position the players were in and we at the PRB shouldn't have put them in that position.

So Wales versus England on at the Six Nations and the threat of a Welsh strike has been called off. The match at Principality Stadium goes ahead.

I wasn’t aware of any of the issues going on when I took the job. [possible Wales player strike for the next Six Nations game](https://www.rugbyworld.com/news/possible-wales-player-strike-for-england-game-twitter-reacts-to-explosive-report-150972) was called off. They want the 60-cap rule scrapped, so that players with fewer than 60 caps can still represent their country if they play abroad.

Crisis is a symptom of a sport torn between the commercial imperative to play more and the medical imperative to play less.

It meant, he said, “when you take the field you try to park it as best you can but, subconsciously, you are one big injury from being thrown out the door”. It cost him the best part of a year of his career, and the chance never came his way again. He was only 16, which made him the youngest player ever to turn out for one of the regions. And much as he trusts them, “until something is set in stone and signed on the dotted line, it doesn’t mean anything”. There are over 70 professional players in Wales who have spent the last few weeks worrying about whether they’ll have a job come the other end of the summer, because they’re out of contract at the end of the season. There are plenty of ex-pros out there who are paying the consequences for that way of doing things. They wanted changes made to the old rule that restricted the ability of anyone with fewer than 60 caps to play outside Wales, and got it, and to a new one which meant their employers would have been able to send them out on loan whether the players wanted to go or not. And they wanted changes to the proposed pay deal that would make 20% of their salaries dependent on performance, even after the team budgets are cut, compromising their ability to compete. The sport is torn between the commercial imperative to play more rugby and the medical imperative to play less, and for all the talk about the importance of player welfare, it too often seems to be the first thing to give. “When I started playing rugby I was 18 and it was a different game – the physicality has increased hugely over that period of 20 years and especially over the last seven or eight,” Parisse says. It’s not that the players don’t accept the risks involved, or even that they want to be better rewarded for them. They asked for more representation in the running of the sport, and got it.

The Wales coach delayed the announcement on Tuesday while the threat of a strike still loomed large.

"Of course it has been a distraction with everything that has been going on, but I have got to commend the players' professionalism in this. We know the history of Wales and England, what that means to everyone in Wales, so we’ve got to go out there and give a good performance. Welsh rugby can't keep going on this merry-go-round of crisis after crisis, because it is affecting everyone in the game. Captain Ken Owens is joined in the front row by Gareth Thomas and Tomas Francis. Bradley Roberts, Rhys Carre and Dillon Lewis provide the Wales front row cover. "For both teams this is a massive game because we win on Saturday and we can get things on track a little bit more. It’s an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and move forward.” His new contract is thought to start before Wales play their summer World Cup warm-up matches, meaning he technically remains ineligible. We had a meeting to announce the team. He’s still pretty inexperienced so the big message to him has been ‘what’s the biggest thing you need to work on?’ He said 'keep talking and keep communicating', so that’s been the focus for him and I’ve been really happy with him in training. A player walkout was averted late on Wednesday after the Welsh Rugby Union and Professional Rugby Board made concessions over a contracts dispute. "And then we’re mixing that with giving players an opportunity.

Wales captain Ken Owens says Welsh rugby needs to aim to return to top of world rugby after becoming a "laughing stock".

Wales have lost 11 out of their 14 internationals a run that stretches back to the Wayne Pivac era. Especially with reduction in funding which will eventually see Welsh regional sides work on a playing budget of £4.5m from the 2024-25 season onwards. So plenty of things to ponder. There will also be a solely fixed model, with agent, player and region choosing which one they want to have discussions about. We can't come back here in five years time for another EGM like has been the pattern. "Our reputation is tarnished and it's not a good image. The immediate focus will switch to the arrival of England in Cardiff this weekend. There is also the need to solve the fractious relationship between the WRU and regions. The uncertainty and how players have been treated has proved the major issue in this dispute with more than 70 of them not knowing whether they will have jobs in the next three or four months. The former Wales wing was then on the WRU board of directors and is now president of the organisation. But the absurdity of the occasion and how Welsh rugby had reached this nadir will always linger in the memory. That capped off a day of emergency talks between Welsh rugby bosses and players to stop the Wales squad refusing to play against England in a Six Nations match in Cardiff because of a contract dispute.

Wales senior men's head coach Warren Gatland has named the team to play England at a sold-out Principality Stadium on Saturday 25 February (KO 4.45pm live.

Owen Williams (Ospreys – 4 caps) “For both teams this is a massive game because we win on Saturday and we can get things on track a little bit more. He’s got a good rugby head on him. “And then we’re mixing that with giving players an opportunity. Bradley Roberts, Rhys Carre and Dillon Lewis provide the Wales front row cover. Louis Rees-Zammit returns from injury to take a place on the wing.