A players walkout of a sponsor’s dinner and potential staggering financial losses, with the ire of Sonny Bill Williams, has all added to the Wales rugby contracts dispute saga.
Welsh rugby has been thrown into turmoil by a possible strike by players that could threaten next week’s Six Nations clash against England in Cardiff.
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and the regions have yet to agree in writing a new long-term financial agreement, sparking fears that players whose current deals expire at the end of the season will leave the Welsh game.
The dispute affects not only the national side but hundreds of professional players in Wales. The WRU is looking to cut costs and under its proposal, wages would drop across the board, with only 80 percent of salaries guaranteed.
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Top players would earn a maximum of £278,000 (R6-million), down from about £400,000 (R8,6m), British newspaper The Times reported.
“As part of standardised contracts, players could earn bonuses to get the full salary, but they feel the targets being set to gain that extra cash are “unrealistic” for many,’’ it stated.
One of the WRU’s big problems is that if the players do strike and it forfeits the England game, it stands to lose about £10m (R218m) in revenue.
And while the sporting body refused to back down in the row that is placing the Test match on 26 February under threat, the players in Warren Gatland’s side have now upped the ante with their reported walkout at a sponsor’s dinner on Wednesday.
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The players were understood to not be keen to attend the event at Cardiff’s Parkgate Hotel, which is owned by the WRU, but decided to go before leaving early together, The Times reported.
“It is understood that the squad stayed to listen to a question-and-answer session with Warren Gatland’s new coaching staff, but then all left after the starters had been served. The event continued without the Wales players, with onlookers understood to be stunned by the mass walkout,” the newspaper stated.
Meanwhile, former All Blacks star Williams has supported the players’ cause, following a tweet from currently injured Wales international Willis Halaholo before the dinner walkout.
Name me another “business” where the “employees” are treated this way. first NRL now the footy players up north are starting to stand up for their rights! Organisations are making 100s of millions of $ a year of the back of these players and this is how they’re treated https://t.co/PKhN48Ejbj
— Sonny Bill Williams (@SonnyBWilliams) February 14, 2023
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