1
Wales call off their planned Tuesday Six Nations team announcement
By Liam Heagney
Warren Gatland has been unable to name as planned his Wales team to face England in this Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations. The Welsh head coach was scheduled to announce the match day 23 on Tuesday, a a 12 noon unveiling via social media that was to be followed 30 minutes later by Gatland fronting a media briefing at the Vale Resort.
ADVERTISEMENT
However, that plan to name the XV has now been shelved, the WRU postponing the team announcement amidst the backdrop of increasing threats by the players that they will strike this week and not play the February 25 match against the English. Gatland, though, will still apparently stage his Tuesday media briefing as planned.
The latest development will only increase fears that the match could be postponed amid Welsh rugby’s contractual chaos. Talks between negotiators of a new six-year financial agreement – the professional rugby board – and Welsh professional players are due to take place on Wednesday.
The players want Wales’ minimum 60-cap selection rule for players plying their trade outside the country to be scrapped, a voice at PRB meetings and a review of proposed fixed-variable contracts. Those contracts would guarantee a player only 80 per cent of their salary, with the remaining 20 per cent comprising bonuses, and is the players’ major grievance.
No long-form agreement between the Welsh Rugby Union and Wales’ four professional regions – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets – has yet been agreed in writing, meaning players whose contracts expire at the end of this season currently cannot be offered new deals.
With the clock ticking and player unrest having escalated, Gatland must somehow prepare for a game that comes on the back of Wales suffering comprehensive defeats in their opening Six Nations fixtures against Ireland and Scotland. It’s the first time in 16 years that Wales have lost their first two championship games, while three defeats from the start last happened during their 2003 Six Nations campaign under head coach Steve Hansen.
