There are an alarming number of players being linked with moves away from Wales in the wake of their World Cup campaign which could undo all the good work Warren Gatland has done since his reign began in 2007. Nobody could have thought the way in which the Welsh players went about their work would end up being detrimental to the national game, but at the moment, that’s exactly what’s on the verge of happening.
There was a time where players went to France to develop their game and to test and hone their skills in a different environment with the overall goal of enhancing themselves as test rugby players, a la Stephen Jones. These days are a thing of the past with the players moving abroad for two reasons, lifestyle and money. Unfortunately, French clubs have funds that stretch much further than the Welsh regions and there’s no way for them to compete.
Most rugby players have families to support and given the short nature of a professional rugby career, they’d be idiotic to turn the pay rise down. Adam Jones has been linked with a move to France when his contract expires in June and discussing Gethin Jenkins’ reported offer of a £500,000 salary, he revealed:
“If they have to do something that is financially right then they have to go…It is the world we live in. If the region is not going to offer you a new contract or the type of money on offer elsewhere, you might have to go.”
This seems to be exactly the case with the re-invented dragon, Luke Charteris. He’s announced that he will be leaving the Gwent region at the end of the season with Perpignan in prime position to snap up the giant 6’ft 9”in second row stating:
"The chance to live in a different country and enjoy a new culture and way of life is one not everybody gets.
A player's career doesn't last forever and I want to experience as much as I can."
With so many frontline players already playing in France and England, Warren Gatland’s foreign player policy is no longer. He can’t possibly dismiss anyone playing outside of Wales because he simply wouldn’t have the players to pick from. Whereas before, players moving to France would mean possible exile from the national set-up, this is no longer the case. Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins are two of many players allegedly being offered big-money deals to play in the Top 14 or the Aviva Premiership. Jamie Roberts, Leigh Halfpenny, Rhys Priestland, George North, Scott Williams, Jon Davies and Aled Brew but to name a few have apparently been approached with big offers to lure them away from Wales.
If the majority of us were in their positions, we’d already be brushing up on our French because despite the game being the national sport of Wales, the elite domestic competition is failing miserably to capture the imagination of the public. All four Welsh regions have recorded all time low figures this season in the Celtic League and it’s becoming a genuine cause for concern. The Cardiff Blues have been especially outspoken, expressing their concern over the dwindling numbers:
· Scarlets – 7,243 (7 games)
· Blues – 6,723 (6 games)
· Ospreys – 6,528 (8 games)
· Dragons – 4,766 (4 games)
Regions are battling against themselves in many ways and this is acting as a deterrent to the Welsh players. They must be asking themselves what has happened to the 65,000 people that crammed into the Millennium Stadium at the break of dawn to watch their world cup semi final. From the highs of the word cup, the Welsh squad have returned to their regions and the accompanying bland, generic and empty stadia. Compare that to the partisan crowd that watched Clermont Auvergne beat Leicester at the weekend and is it any wonder that the Welsh elite are being drawn abroad?
With the regional game unable to draw the crowds despite every region boasting many internationals, it’s adding to their economic struggles. Even if we take a look over the bridge, you very rarely find a 25,000-seater stadium occupied by 6,000 shivering souls. These shortcomings are completely self-inflicted from the regions’ point of view. Ask any Cardiff Blues fan and they’ll tell you that the move to the Cardiff City Stadium has been a drastic flop. Why on earth they aren’t playing their home games at the vacant Arms Park is anyone’s guess. At least 6,000 people in there would create an atmosphere as opposed the cauldron of awkward silence that currently fills the new stadium. Those attendances would have more of a chance of rising if the matches were held at the heart of the capital. The atmosphere developed upon the arrival of Jonah Lomu to Cardiff in was meteoric and it saw attendances soar to upward of 20,000 packed into the old, traditional ground. It seems that the board think that bigger is better; it most certainly is not. If they were drawing the 44,000 people that watched the Blues lose to Leicester in the Heineken Cup penalty shoot-out in 2009, their perseverance with the Cardiff City Stadium becomes justifiable, but let’s face it, they’re nowhere near.
The Ospreys are in the same boat, struggling hugely to fill the Liberty Stadium. An LV Anglo-Welsh match was shifted to the Brewery Field with relative success. On a horrid Friday evening in front of the sky cameras, 6,662 came through the turnstiles of the 8,000 capacity ground when the Ospreys beat Leicester in front of the Sky Sports cameras. They proved that there’s a niche in the market, yet that’s the first and last time it’s happened? Their relationship with Neath Rugby has effectively evaporated, but if they were to re-establish that connection, The Gnoll would be another option open to them as well as The All Whites’ ground down the road at St Helens. Again, moving the fixtures to these alternative grounds would at least create an atmosphere and this could possibly increase the numbers.
The Dragons’ new stand has failed to spark an interest in Gwent despite landing deals with Toby Faletau and Dan Lydiate to keep them at the region. Their problem has always been not having the superstars to bring in the numbers, that isn’t true any more. The Scarlets’ new stadium was doomed to fail before it even began to be built with so many supporters opposing to the move. This has been the catalyst for so many empty seats at the ‘home of heart & soul rugby country’. For them and the Dragons, they have their hands tied because there’s no other significant sports ground in the area. The Scarlets should play some games in North Wales given that it’s in their region and the fact that it’s produced a certain 6’ft 4”in winger.
An area that isn’t being explored is the heartbeat of Welsh rugby. Since the collapse of the Celtic Warriors in 2003, the valleys have been without first grade rugby. Sardis Road could be the perfect tonic both for the area of Pontypridd and any region brave enough to take the gamble.
With the regional game in its current state, more and more players will opt for the glamour of French rugby. Rugby Union is Wales’ biggest marketing tool bar none and the national team is the pinnacle in advertising power. Without these players, there is nothing. Therefore, the WRU and the Welsh Assembly Government need to urgently come up with a plan to keep players in Wales. The money on offer abroad is obscene in comparison to their current wages. The only foreseeable solution is for a top-up system where the regions pay half of the players’ wages and the rest made up from the WRU and governmental budget, equalling the money they’d be getting abroad and hopefully stifling the player’s potential move.
It’s a very complicated issue, but it if the Welsh game is to continue developing, the players need to be playing in Wales and be available for national duty as and when Warren Gatland sees fit or the good work he’s done thus far in his tenure could be nil and void. WRU, over to you.
There was a time where players went to France to develop their game and to test and hone their skills in a different environment with the overall goal of enhancing themselves as test rugby players, a la Stephen Jones. These days are a thing of the past with the players moving abroad for two reasons, lifestyle and money. Unfortunately, French clubs have funds that stretch much further than the Welsh regions and there’s no way for them to compete.
Most rugby players have families to support and given the short nature of a professional rugby career, they’d be idiotic to turn the pay rise down. Adam Jones has been linked with a move to France when his contract expires in June and discussing Gethin Jenkins’ reported offer of a £500,000 salary, he revealed:
“If they have to do something that is financially right then they have to go…It is the world we live in. If the region is not going to offer you a new contract or the type of money on offer elsewhere, you might have to go.”
This seems to be exactly the case with the re-invented dragon, Luke Charteris. He’s announced that he will be leaving the Gwent region at the end of the season with Perpignan in prime position to snap up the giant 6’ft 9”in second row stating:
"The chance to live in a different country and enjoy a new culture and way of life is one not everybody gets.
A player's career doesn't last forever and I want to experience as much as I can."
With so many frontline players already playing in France and England, Warren Gatland’s foreign player policy is no longer. He can’t possibly dismiss anyone playing outside of Wales because he simply wouldn’t have the players to pick from. Whereas before, players moving to France would mean possible exile from the national set-up, this is no longer the case. Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins are two of many players allegedly being offered big-money deals to play in the Top 14 or the Aviva Premiership. Jamie Roberts, Leigh Halfpenny, Rhys Priestland, George North, Scott Williams, Jon Davies and Aled Brew but to name a few have apparently been approached with big offers to lure them away from Wales.
If the majority of us were in their positions, we’d already be brushing up on our French because despite the game being the national sport of Wales, the elite domestic competition is failing miserably to capture the imagination of the public. All four Welsh regions have recorded all time low figures this season in the Celtic League and it’s becoming a genuine cause for concern. The Cardiff Blues have been especially outspoken, expressing their concern over the dwindling numbers:
· Scarlets – 7,243 (7 games)
· Blues – 6,723 (6 games)
· Ospreys – 6,528 (8 games)
· Dragons – 4,766 (4 games)
Regions are battling against themselves in many ways and this is acting as a deterrent to the Welsh players. They must be asking themselves what has happened to the 65,000 people that crammed into the Millennium Stadium at the break of dawn to watch their world cup semi final. From the highs of the word cup, the Welsh squad have returned to their regions and the accompanying bland, generic and empty stadia. Compare that to the partisan crowd that watched Clermont Auvergne beat Leicester at the weekend and is it any wonder that the Welsh elite are being drawn abroad?
With the regional game unable to draw the crowds despite every region boasting many internationals, it’s adding to their economic struggles. Even if we take a look over the bridge, you very rarely find a 25,000-seater stadium occupied by 6,000 shivering souls. These shortcomings are completely self-inflicted from the regions’ point of view. Ask any Cardiff Blues fan and they’ll tell you that the move to the Cardiff City Stadium has been a drastic flop. Why on earth they aren’t playing their home games at the vacant Arms Park is anyone’s guess. At least 6,000 people in there would create an atmosphere as opposed the cauldron of awkward silence that currently fills the new stadium. Those attendances would have more of a chance of rising if the matches were held at the heart of the capital. The atmosphere developed upon the arrival of Jonah Lomu to Cardiff in was meteoric and it saw attendances soar to upward of 20,000 packed into the old, traditional ground. It seems that the board think that bigger is better; it most certainly is not. If they were drawing the 44,000 people that watched the Blues lose to Leicester in the Heineken Cup penalty shoot-out in 2009, their perseverance with the Cardiff City Stadium becomes justifiable, but let’s face it, they’re nowhere near.
The Ospreys are in the same boat, struggling hugely to fill the Liberty Stadium. An LV Anglo-Welsh match was shifted to the Brewery Field with relative success. On a horrid Friday evening in front of the sky cameras, 6,662 came through the turnstiles of the 8,000 capacity ground when the Ospreys beat Leicester in front of the Sky Sports cameras. They proved that there’s a niche in the market, yet that’s the first and last time it’s happened? Their relationship with Neath Rugby has effectively evaporated, but if they were to re-establish that connection, The Gnoll would be another option open to them as well as The All Whites’ ground down the road at St Helens. Again, moving the fixtures to these alternative grounds would at least create an atmosphere and this could possibly increase the numbers.
The Dragons’ new stand has failed to spark an interest in Gwent despite landing deals with Toby Faletau and Dan Lydiate to keep them at the region. Their problem has always been not having the superstars to bring in the numbers, that isn’t true any more. The Scarlets’ new stadium was doomed to fail before it even began to be built with so many supporters opposing to the move. This has been the catalyst for so many empty seats at the ‘home of heart & soul rugby country’. For them and the Dragons, they have their hands tied because there’s no other significant sports ground in the area. The Scarlets should play some games in North Wales given that it’s in their region and the fact that it’s produced a certain 6’ft 4”in winger.
An area that isn’t being explored is the heartbeat of Welsh rugby. Since the collapse of the Celtic Warriors in 2003, the valleys have been without first grade rugby. Sardis Road could be the perfect tonic both for the area of Pontypridd and any region brave enough to take the gamble.
With the regional game in its current state, more and more players will opt for the glamour of French rugby. Rugby Union is Wales’ biggest marketing tool bar none and the national team is the pinnacle in advertising power. Without these players, there is nothing. Therefore, the WRU and the Welsh Assembly Government need to urgently come up with a plan to keep players in Wales. The money on offer abroad is obscene in comparison to their current wages. The only foreseeable solution is for a top-up system where the regions pay half of the players’ wages and the rest made up from the WRU and governmental budget, equalling the money they’d be getting abroad and hopefully stifling the player’s potential move.
It’s a very complicated issue, but it if the Welsh game is to continue developing, the players need to be playing in Wales and be available for national duty as and when Warren Gatland sees fit or the good work he’s done thus far in his tenure could be nil and void. WRU, over to you.
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