Regional rugby bosses insist the new salary cap imposed on the four Welsh sides will prove a long-term solution to the player drain to France. Western Mail's Gareth Griffiths reports.
"The Welsh Rugby Union and Regional Rugby Wales yesterday agreed a salary cap of £3.5m for each region, to be introduced to cover a 38-man squad from next July and which will be reviewed annually.
"This compares with £4.2m in England, though Welsh rugby officials point out their figure does not include development players or academy costs. All existing player contracts will be honoured in full. But it is still a long way short of the £7m figure in France which has helped to lure away the likes of Mike Phillips, Lee Byrne and James Hook across the English Channel.
Wales trio Luke Charteris, Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins have also been recently linked with moves to France. But RRW chief executive Stuart Gallacher believes the salary cap will be crucial to protecting the Welsh game’s long-term future.
"I believe this is the first building block to working together to collectively try and get to the position to give our best players the opportunity to stay in Wales,” said Gallacher.
"We are all working hard to try and get a package together that will be sufficient in the long-term.
"There is an immediate short-term threat from France and we would be naive to think otherwise. But we have to meet it head on and see what we can do in the future."
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