Wales' players staged a premeditated walk-out at a sponsors event on Wednesday night in the latest stage of a bitter stand-off between players and bosses over contracts.
The members of Wales' Guinness Six Nations squad were obligated to turn up to a 200-strong dinner at the Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff which had been organised for sponsors and for those who have boxes at the Principality Stadium.
WalesOnline understands the players stayed at the event for an hour, before leaving early in what was a premeditated decision.
That came hours after senior Welsh players had met with WRU interim chief executive Nigel Walker where they were told the proposed new financial and contract model going forward is what is required to make the game sustainable.
At the same meeting, the players reportedly gave Welsh rugby bosses a deadline of next Wednesday to sort out the contract mess, while also making three demands; scrap the 60-cap rule, remove the fixed-variable element from contracts, which accounts for 20% of salaries, and give players a seat at Professional Rugby Board meetings. You can read the latest here.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that strike action was to be discussed ahead of the England game due to the current uncertainty casting a shadow over the Welsh game.
Would you support Welsh rugby players taking strike action amid contracts turmoil? Have your say here
With no financial model actually signed off between the Welsh Rugby Union and regions, over 70 players around the four regions are currently in the dark over whether they will even have a contract for next season.
Even if they do, all players are facing deals on reduced terms - with the new model consisting of a fixed variable contract on a lesser salary, topped up by bonuses for things such as wins and appearances.
Those are clauses which, given players have been told the next three to six years could well be case of surviving rather than thriving, many view as simply unrealistic and even insulting.
The fact that it is only players who will feel the pinch, rather than executives and coaches too, is another point of consternation. One player told WalesOnline it was a "joke" that senior executives and coaches wouldn't also be taking pay cuts, adding "so are we all working together?"
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