Warren Gatland concedes nuclear option of Wales strike action a 'genuine threat'

Warren Gatland was forced to cancel Wales training and delay his team announcement ahead of Saturday’s Six Nations showdown with England as talks over a possible player strike go down to the wire.

On a dramatic day at The Vale, Wales’ team base in Glamorgan, Gatland acknowledged that the nuclear option of calling off a game worth an estimated £9 million to Wales Rugby Union was a “genuine threat”.

He scrapped an afternoon training session and postponed naming his team to allow more time for a solution to be negotiated. Contrary to his optimism that talks would be concluded swiftly, the impasse remained unresolved late on Tuesday night, with players insisting that they would go through with strike action if their demands were not met.

Before his players agree to take to the pitch at the Principality Stadium, they are asking for union representation at meetings of the Professional Rugby Board, a scrapping of WRU demands that they accept 20 per cent of their pay in bonuses, and the removal of the hugely controversial rule whereby somebody playing his trade outside the country cannot be picked for the country unless he has earned 60 caps.

No definitive agreement has yet been achieved in writing between the WRU and Wales’ four professional regions – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets – with the upshot that players whose contracts expire at the end of this season cannot be offered fresh deals.

Pressed on the likelihood of a strike if no agreement was reached, Gatland said: “I think it is a genuine threat, there is no doubt about that. Having spoken to a few people today, I am confident that we will get some resolution. What the players are asking for is definitely reasonable. You have to find some middle ground. I hope the discussions find something that everyone is happy with. It’s not always one side winning. It’s about finding some compromise.”

Justifying his decision to hold off naming his 23 to face England, he explained: “It’s the uncertainty of what’s happening. A lot of meetings have been going on. So, I just wanted to make sure we had clarity. It has been a bit of a challenge, but sometimes that galvanises people and brings them together. I don’t think there is going to be any lack of motivation for a player against England. The boys have a day off now, and I’m sure if things are resolved they will come back and be completely focused on the game.”

Gatland also admitted he had been unaware of the political maelstrom he was confronting when he returned in December for his second spell as Wales head coach. “I wasn’t aware of any of the issues that were taking place,” he said. “It was last week when I learned about this.

“I think players had been given assurances that things would be sorted out, but unfortunately they haven’t been. It finally came to a head. We’re all asking for things to get sorted. I wasn’t aware of any of the issues. I wish I had known a few things that were going on here. You just take it on the chin.”

Pressed on whether he felt professional rugby, already grappling with the concussion debate and huge financial problems, was tipping towards a crisis point, Gatland said: “With Wales, it’s a bit different to everywhere else. The pandemic has had a significant impact. We’re well aware of people overspending. It’s about keeping within our means. The players are aware that there needs to be a reduction in salaries.”

Wales v England strike: Will game go ahead and would tickets be refunded?

By Charlie Morgan, Senior Rugby Writer

Egland’s Six Nations match against Wales this Saturday remains in doubt due to threats of a player strike after talks failed to reach a conclusion.

Warren Gatland, the Wales head coach, postponed his team announcement for the weekend’s Test in Cardiff just 35 minutes before he was due to name his squad, with afternoon training cancelled and players locked in talks with the Welsh Rugby Union and Professional Rugby Board.

With the match far from certain to go ahead and a crunch meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Telegraph Sport looks at the problems that will arise if the match does not go ahead.

Could the game be rescheduled?

Hypothetically, yes. Next weekend is free from Six Nations fixtures and there have been quick turnarounds following postponements before. As recently as 2021, Scotland’s visit to France, scheduled for round three on February 28, had to be replayed because of a number of COVID cases among Fabien Galthié’s squad. It was tacked onto the end of the tournament – six days after Super Saturday – and took place on March 26.

One major difference, and a significant reason why this situation is different to two years ago, is that the 2021 tournament was played behind closed doors. Large crowds provide logistical challenges, before one even confronts other thorny issues such as question of player release from club action and any possible dispensation to World Rugby’s regulation nine, which governs availability for Test matches.

What makes life more difficult in this regard is that we are in World Cup year and the calendar is stacked. Warm-up fixtures have been organised in July and August with carefully-planned training camps preceding them. There are no autumn internationals after World Cups – the 2023 final is set for October 28 – so there would be a genuine danger of losing the game forever. And that would plunge a number of stakeholders into a can of worms.

What about tickets and refunds or reallocations?

This would be a matter for the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) rather than the Six Nations, but the uncertainty over another date makes reallocation tricky. Refunds would be part of the walloping financial hit that a strike would bring.

What are the Six Nations doing about it?

Rest assured, the organising body is proactively working through scenarios and have been doing so since this threat was raised at the beginning of last week. There are a number of commercial relationships – both individual off-shoots of the WRU and Rugby Football Union (RFU), as well as centrally-agreed contracts between tournament stakeholders – that would be at risk.