Wales vs England Six Nations clash to go ahead as players withdraw strike threat
22 February 2023, 20:22
Wales will face England in Saturday's Six Nations clash after a strike threat from players over contract issues was withdrawn following a compromise with Welsh rugby bosses.
Players had gathered at Wales’ Vale of Glamorgan training base to discuss various issues with Professional Rugby Board members.
The threat of Six Nations strike action came as a result of new six-year financial agreement between the Welsh Rugby Union and Wales' four professional regions not being signed off, causing uncertainty for players in Wales whose deals are coming to an end this season.
But acting WRU CEO Nigel Walker said: "I’m pleased to announce that after extensive conversations and discussions over the last week the Wales-England game will go ahead as scheduled.
"It’s important going forward that we continue the dialogue over the last week or so, but not under the circumstances we’ve had over the last week or so.
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"Ken [Owens] and I and some of the senior players will be meeting more regularly than perhaps we have in the past."
Wales captain Ken Owens said: "We are obviously happy. There has been huge frustration over the last number of months that it got to this stage.
"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 players are satisfied, hence why the game is on on Saturday. It has been very tough, hugely frustrating. It has been a difficult period, but we have fronted up in training and prepared as we would for any Test match and we are looking forward to getting out there and going toe-to-toe with England.
"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.
"When we have crossed that white line at training, we’ve done our work as professional players. We are really ready for Saturday."
Players had called for an end to the contentious minimum 60-cap Test selection rule, representation on the Professional Rugby Board, and for the variable element of their contracts to be scrapped.
The 60-cap rules relates to only allowing players with over 60 Test appearances for Wales to play their domestic rugby outside of Wales and still play for the national team.
Mr Walker said: "Gareth Lewis, chief executive of the WRPA (Welsh Rugby Players Association), attended his first PRB meeting earlier today. He's got a standing invite and he will be invited to the Rugby Management Board.
"With regards to the 60-cap rule that rule is still there. But the number of caps has been reduced to 25."
Addressing the issue of player's pay, Mr Walker added: "Going forward we’ll have a hybrid model where there’ll be the fixed and variable.
"But there will also be a solely fixed model and the agent, player and the region can choose which one they want to have discussions about."
Mr Owens said that a long-term fix was needed for the issues affecting Welsh rugby.
"It’s got to be a long-term solution because Welsh rugby can’t keep going on this merry-go-round of crisis after crisis because it’s affecting everybody in the game – players, supporters, administrators, grass roots clubs," he said.
"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.
"We need to do it collaboratively to put Welsh rugby back at the top of world rugby, and not the laughing stock which I think we are at the moment."
