Wales winger Jonah Holmes has lost his wage appeal to the Welsh Rugby Union, casting doubt over his future with the Dragons. The salaries of the elite 38 home-based players are set by the Union under their wage banding system.
The seven-times capped Holmes was unhappy with the figure he was offered, so he lodged an appeal, which was supported by his region. But that has now been rejected, meaning there is uncertainty of what lies ahead for the out-of-contract 29-year-old.
Players in the elite 38 effectively have 80 per cent of their salaries paid for by the WRU out of the first tranche of the Professional Rugby Board distribution pot. If Holmes is not in that group, the Dragons would have to pay all of his wages out of their own playing budget and it remains to be seen what will happen now and whether he will stay in Welsh rugby.
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“Jonah is currently in a difficult position where he turned down a national 38 contract,” explained the region’s director of rugby Dean Ryan. “The WRU set a value for the 38. Jonah didn’t agree with it and therefore didn’t sign it. We supported him in an appeal, which was wasn’t upheld. It’s been a very difficult time for him. He’s left in a situation of what happens next and so are we.
“We are not in control of the values or budgets attached to national 38 players. As Jonah decides what happens next we are a little bit stuck in the background waiting to see what the outcome is. It makes it a very difficult space for us and it’s late in the year for dealing with that.”
Having played against Canada and Argentina last summer, Holmes has been overlooked by Wales this season and was omitted by the Dragons for their last game against Munster.
“Jonah’s not been playing at the form he did towards the tail end of last year,” said Ryan. “He has struggled to hit those same places. The more you think about trying to play well, the harder it is. He has got all these other things going on as part of the challenge of how he finds his form. The more often we put him out there, the harder he’s found it to find that form, so we just tried to break the cycle, give him some space and freshen him up.”
The plan was that Holmes would be back in the mix for this Saturday’s game against the Bulls out in Pretoria, but he has not made the trip to South Africa for travel document issues. However, it is hoped he will be able to fly out in time for next week’s meeting with the Sharks in Durban.
The Dragons have Wales squad forwards Leon Brown and Ben Carter with them and available for the Bulls game, along with scrum-half Rhodri Williams, who was a travelling reserve against Italy, while back-row trio Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright and Ross Moriarty will fly out this weekend to join the group. Some players have been unable to travel to South Africa due to Covid issues.
