Shane Williams has waded into the debate on Wales' controversial 60-cap rule, questioning whether it should stay at a time when Welsh Rugby Player of the Year Will Rowlands could soon find himself trapped by it.
Rowlands is said to have agreed a deal to join Racing 92, with the move set for completion at the end of the season. Unless he obtains special dispensation from the Professional Rugby Board, the switch from the Dragons would make him ineligible for Wales at the World Cup.
The lock will be 32 during the global tournament and evidently wants to maximise his earning potential while he’s at the height of his powers. The offer he received some time ago under Welsh rugby’s pay banding system doesn’t seem to have impressed him and fully taken into account the major impact he has made since pitching up in Newport last year.
Nor does the rule that prevents exiled Test players from playing for Wales if they have fewer than 60 caps appear to have decisively influenced his thinking.
Now Williams reckons it could be time for change on the measure, joining previous calls from the likes of Jamie Roberts and Dan Biggar. You can read more here on what Biggar thinks on the matter.
“If Rowlands can more than double his money by moving to Bath or Racing 92, then who can blame him,” Williams writes in his column for The Rugby Paper.
“The bigger question, and one that is going to come more and more into the equation as time moves on, is can you afford to lose your best players to the 60-cap rule just because they want to provide for their families?”
Welsh rugby’s record try scorer won four league titles with the Ospreys and an EDF Energy Cup prior to finishing his playing career with a couple of years in Japan. These days, the regions seem a long way off from competing for any of the main rugby baubles.
“Ask yourself the question, is there any real likelihood of one of the four Welsh regions winning the United Rugby Championship or Heineken Champions Cup at the moment?” says Williams. “And what happens when the World Club Cup comes on stream - will any of the four regions merit a place in that?
“The 60-cap rule may have served a purpose in the past, but it is fast getting past its sell-by date. It has been a mechanism to keep wages down and to keep players in Wales. With further cost cutting to come in the next few years, it would be immoral to stop Welsh players from earning their market value outside Wales if there is not enough cash to entice them to stay.”
Williams pointed out that while Wales' recent out-of-window Test against Australia 'made a profit for the WRU', it had a knock-on effect for the regions, who had to undertake tours of South Africa in the URC without their best players.
He also noted that while exiled players may not get the same amount of preparation time with Wales, previous internationals who had played rugby outside the regions, such as Mike Phillips, Luke Charteris and Gethin Jenkins, had still given “their all for their country”.
READ NEXT:
Welsh rugby's 60-cap rule under severe pressure as pull of Wales jersey may now not be enough
Ieuan Evans insists WRU won't be rushed into Warren Gatland decision by England 'speculation'
The Wales v England battle for Warren Gatland and who holds the ace card
