Six-year deal signed in bid to end Welsh rugby crisis

A new six-year deal between the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and the nation’s four professional teams has been signed.

A statement said the Professional Rugby Agreement (PRA) “provides financial predictability”.

Salary caps will be implemented from the start of the 2023-24 season with “fixed” and “fixed and variable” deals available to players.

The statement read: “The new PRA provides a financial framework which is made up of new funding from the WRU and club shareholders to create a sustainable platform for progress.

“It provides financial predictability for the professional game in Wales and is welcomed by all PRB members.

“Homegrown player development will be a key objective for all parties as the new PRA is designed to promote success for both the professional club game and the Welsh international side.”

Long-lasting financial uncertainty in Welsh rugby reached crisis point during the 2023 Six Nations with Wales’ international players threatening not to play England amid an impasse that had lasted since the summer of 2022.

That threat was averted, but the futures of a host of players, including Wales stars, aspiring talents and regional regulars have remained uncertain, although Dragons announced seven deals to hold onto existing squad members on the eve of the new deal being announced.

However, Wales fly-half Gareth Anscombe and Wales and Lions back row Dan Lydiate are among those whose career paths have yet to be determined and they are not alone.

The agreement includes these measures:

• A central clearing will hold all contracts “to monitor spend, ensure contract compliance and effect a new player-loan system across clubs”.
• The WRU Performance Director and the regions will agree “contracts for players of national interest”.
• Academies will be supported by a commitment to “a minimum spend”.
• There will be regular audits of “expenditures, contracts, business plans and academy performance”.
• Scarlets, Ospreys, Cardiff and Dragons “are committed to centralising aspects of their commercial operations, with work already in process in this area”.

Before the deal was agreed and announced, the WRU and leading players agreed to a significant adjustment to rules around eligibility to play for Wales.

Previously, if a player wanted to play for Wales while not based there, he had to have won 60 caps – that is now 25 Test appearances.

Welsh rugby’s Professional Rugby Board chair Malcolm Wall said: “It is no exaggeration to say a great deal of work, time and effort has gone into establishing an agreement all parties can be happy with and which is designed to achieve the very best results for Welsh professional rugby from the resources available to us.

“The directors of each of our professional sides, the executive staff at the WRU, my fellow Independent Non-Executive Director Marianne Okland and the Rugby Management Board (RMB) all deserve credit for enabling Welsh rugby to reach this critically important moment.

“We also can’t let this moment pass without marking the important role our sadly departed colleague and friend Peter Thomas CBE played in sustaining professional rugby in the Welsh capital during his lifetime and in helping us reach this significant point in our history.”

Acting WRU chief executive Nigel Walker said: “Our objective has been to achieve a sustainable future for our four professional sides and for Wales and credit must go to all involved now this has been achieved.

“The co-operation between the WRU, our professional clubs and the WRPA (Welsh Rugby Players Association) has been a vitally important part of this process and we will continue to work together for the future benefit of Welsh rugby.

“We now have a structure which will provide a backdrop of stability from which we can build.”