Max Llewellyn’ impending departure to England highlights what a mess Welsh rugby is in heading into World Cup year, according to former Wales centre Tom Shanklin.
One of Welsh rugby’s brightest prospects, Llewellyn will head out of Wales when his contract at Cardiff expires in the summer, with Gloucester mentioned as a likely destination.
The hard-running centre has made his call to exit against a backdrop of uncertainty, with talk of squad sizes being cut and salaries being reduced and still no signed fresh financial agreement for the game this side of the River Severn.
Shanklin doesn’t blame the 23-year-old for making the call to leave.
But he reckons the loss of the 6ft 5in, 16st 7lb midfield man shines a bright light on the problems that exist in the Welsh game.
“It’s a shame for Cardiff because he’s come up through the ranks,” said Shanklin, capped 70 times by Wales and a Slam winner in 2005 and 2008
“He broke through towards the end of last year and he’s carried on that form right from the start of this season. It is gutting because he’s the future and now we are going to see him apply his talents across the bridge.
“It shows what a mess Welsh rugby is in, because I’d imagine he’s looking at it and thinking: ‘Right, well, I’ll go across to Gloucester — allegedly he’s going there — play in a good league, the Gallagher, and I’ll hopefully come back when Welsh rugby sorts itself out.’
“For him it’s probably a quite good decision.”
Dragons captain Will Rowlands is also waving goodbye to the regional scene for next term, in his case apparently for Racing 92, while Dillon Lewis is said to be on the radar of several English clubs, with French outfits showing interest in Rio Dyer and Josh Adams, though both those will still be in contract at the end of the season.
Shanklin said the loss of players showed “how bad” the situation was amid the uncertainty over budgets, with the ex-centre asking the question “what are players meant to do?”
And he suggested the 60-cap selection rule on its own wasn’t enough to encourage players to stay in Wales.
“I still think there has to be more incentive for players to play in Wales and not just the carrot of playing for the national team,” he said.
“There has to be more of a financial incentive for them to stay.
“We don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know what budgets are going to be set. We don’t know whether there are going to be dual-contracted players any more or whether Wales are just going to pay for access to players.
“And while this is going on, being a player must be a nightmare.
“So, as much as I hate it, he’s probably looked at it and thought he might be better getting away from Welsh rugby and waiting for it to level itself out.”
Who is your Wales men's rugby player of 2022?
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