WILLIAMS SET FOR TALKS OVER FUTURE
LIAM Williams will sit down with the Scarlets this week in an attempt to thrash out his future amid a bombshell contract wrangle.
He hasn’t appeared for them since rejoining the Llanelli-based outfit ahead of the Six Nations from Champions Cup holders Saracens.
And the Wales and Lions star’s situation is now shrouded in uncertainty if a resolution can’t be found.
The 63-times Wales cap last December signed a three-year contract worth £400,000 a year in a deal which would have netted him a staggering £1.2m.
But he could lose up to a quarter of it after being asked to take a long term 25 per cent pay cut following the financial crisis which has engulfed rugby in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Williams, along with the rest of the Scarlets squad, has been requested to accept a deal put forward by paymasters at Parc y Scarlets.
It’s understood most of them have but fearless full-back or wing Williams, who will be 30 next year and has suffered from a worrying number of injuries since 2017, wants to safeguard his long-term financial future and is reluctant to follow suit.
He hopes to be able to reach an acceptable agreement with Scarlets bosses with talks due to take place on Thursday.
Williams would become a free agent if he doesn’t accept the terms he has been offered or any other deal the Scarlets may consider putting forward.
That would enable him to follow the lead of England centre powerhouse Manu Tuilagi, who left Leicester Tigers for Sale Sharks after refusing a reduced contract at Welford Road.
Scarlets last week announced 17 players had agreed new contracts ahead of the start of next season.
Among them were Wales internationals Leigh Halfpenny, outsidehalf Rhys Patchell, scrum-half Gareth Davies and prop Samson Lee.
They were among those whose existing contracts were coming to an end and who were offered longer deals as a sweetener in return for taking a pay cut.
Williams made 111 outings for the Scarlets before signing for Saracens in 2017.
A serious ankle injury sustained in training forced him out of last year’s World Cup in Japan ahead of Wales’ quarter-final victory over France.
He returned to action during Wales’ last match, the 33-30 defeat to England at Twickenham on March 7, where he started at left-wing.
If Williams were to leave the Scarlets and sign for a club in another country, he would still be eligible for coach Wayne Pivac’s team because he has passed the WRU’s 60-cap threshold for exiles.
Meanwhile, Sam Davies is considering a big money move to Bath or Wasps after failing to agree a pay cut at the Dragons.
The talented Wales international has a year left on his contract at the Welsh Rugby Union-owned Gwent region.
He has been asked, along with the rest of the Dragons squad, to take a 25 per cent pay cut over the next 12 months.
Eight-times capped Davies would, like Williams, effectively become a free agent if he doesn’t accept those terms or any alternative Dragons offer.
Davies’ availability, which would likely to be immediate, makes him an attractive proposition.
However, the Dragons may be able to stave off the threat of losing a key player if they offer him a long-term contract with improved conditions.
If Davies does decide to enter exile, it would end his prospects of adding to his Wales appearances because he hasn’t the required 60 caps to be eligible under WRU guidelines.