Six Nations game between Wales and England takes place as players threaten to go on strike

Wales are set to play England as scheduled at the Six Nations tournament in Cardiff on Saturday after Welsh players backed up their strike threat over wages and restrictive contract terms.

A playoff took place on Wednesday afternoon at the National Rugby Training Center in the Vale of Glamorgan, featuring the Wales national team and dozens of teammates from four regional teams. a long-running dispute over a six-year funding agreement between the Welsh Rugby Union and the Regions.

Shortly before 18:00 it was reported that the strike had been averted to save £9m in match winnings and come as a huge relief to the 74,000 ticket holders as well as the tax collectors, hotel owners and many others for whom it was one of the most important days of the sports year. Give.

At an unprecedented gathering, some 100 players spoke to Acting Rugby Wales CEO Nigel Walker, Professional Rugby Board (PRB) Chairman Malcolm Wall and Wales Rugby Players Association (WRPA) Chief Executive Gareth Lewis. ).

There were three main events. The 60 threshold for retaining foreign players in Wales has been lowered to 25 to give players with longer stays the opportunity to earn money elsewhere and still represent their country amid regional concerns. All their famous losing stars are being transferred to other leagues.

The WRPA will have a standing invitation to PRB meetings – though they don’t seem to vote – and a controversial new variable pay in player contracts based on wins and performances will be negotiated.

Walker and Wales captain Ken Owens then addressed the waiting media, with Walker adopting a conciliatory tone, stating that the national team should never have been in that position and a six-year contract should be awarded as soon as possible.

Owens said: “The last 18 months have been a tough time – another very upsetting event in Welsh rugby. It was very difficult from a player’s point of view, but we have an advantage in training, we have been preparing for the last 10 days, as we do for any friendly matches, and we are looking forward to Saturday’s game against England.

“It has to be a long term solution because rugby in Wales cannot continue this carousel of crisis after crisis as it affects everyone in the game. Players, fans, administrators, grassroots clubs and everyone, after the events of the last six to eight weeks, all of Welsh rugby really needs to work together to find the best way forward.

“We need to do this together to bring Welsh rugby back to the top of world rugby and not the laughingstock we think it is at the moment. I think we can do it with coordinated cooperation.”

Walker said of player contracts, “We will have a hybrid model with a fixed and variable model, but there will also be a fully fixed model and the agent, the player and the region can choose what they want. lead the discussion.”

I believes the WRU has arranged for emergency funding from its banker NatWest, although it remains to be seen if this will alleviate the scenario around players in regions facing job losses or wage cuts.

No terms for the strike have been made public, such as a majority of the players required, but Wales manager Warren Gatland called it a “real threat” on Tuesday.