DAVIES REVEALS PLAYERS’ CONCERN
SCARLETS captain Jonathan Davies has spoken of the frustration players feel about the ongoing impasse between the Welsh Rugby Union and regions.
Davies says the WRU, Scarlets, Ospreys, Dragons and Cardiff are “always going at it” and are “never on the same page”.
His comments come after it was revealed a number of Welsh rugby players are angry about the current situation that has seen contract negotiations for next season frozen.
That’s because talks over a new financial settlement for professional rugby in Wales are still ongoing, with no sign the parties are closing in on an agreement despite months of trying to find one.
Cardiff Rugby, Dragons RFC, the Ospreys and Scarlets are receiving a £23.5 million payment from the Welsh Rugby Union for this season but say that figure isn’t enough to meet their costs and be competitive, especially after the impact of Covid.
The WRU have recently tabled a new £32m offer, but it would see the regional teams saddled with more debt.
Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast, Davies opened up on the situation with regional rugby in Wales, saying: “There’s a massive argument between the regions at the moment. They’re saying that there’s a £6m shortfall of funding, where the regions thought they were getting X and the union are like, no you’re getting this.
“It’s always been an issue in Wales where you never feel that the regions and the union actually are on the same page, going in the same direction, always just going at each other. You just get used to it.
“It’s just frustrating. During the pandemic, I was involved where every player in Wales took a 25 per cent pay cut for like a 15-month period. I was involved in those negotiations – it was just painful to go through.
“You knew you were going to take a cut, but it was just the way the regions were almost pulling on your heartstrings – it’s your home club and whatnot. When you’re not good enough they’ll chuck you, you’re dead to them almost.
“You see that with certain players with how they’ve been treated when they’re firing, all guns blazing. It’s ‘your home region, you don’t want to leave the boys’.
“When you’re not required it’s like ‘sorry, there’s nothing here, it’s a business’.”
Davies went on to explain the Scarlets have allowed a player to sit on the board, in the form of Ken Owens.
“The region has been good – they’ve allowed a player on. So Ken sits in and anything that needs to be addressed he’s aware of.”
It is understood that worries over contract negotiations currently being frozen and talk of incoming pay cuts had disillusioned some players so
much they would even back industrial action or, at the very least, consider moves outside Wales.