Welsh rugby crisis: Players 'taking the brunt' says WRPA chair Ashton Hewitt

Ashton HewittAndy Watts/INPHO/REX/Shutterstock

Dragons wing Ashton Hewitt has played 112 times for his region

Welsh Rugby Players Association chair Ashton Hewitt says he expects players to leave Wales if they are offered significant pay cuts.

Hewitt says they have been reassured new contracts will be on the table this week, but that strike action remains possible if they are not.

Deals have been delayed with Wales' four regions in dispute with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) over funding.

And Dragons wing Hewitt says players are "taking the brunt of all of this".

Acting WRU chief executive Nigel Walker said on Monday a formal deal with Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets over a new six-year funding framework will be signed in a "matter of days".

And former Wales international Walker told the BBC contracts will be offered to players this week despite the document not yet being signed off by all parties.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast Hewitt said the WRPA was confident that would happen.

"We've been assured that we're going to get the contracts this week," he said.

"In the past we've heard about this long-form agreement close to being finalised and signed and it hasn't come to fruition unfortunately, so hopefully this time it's set in stone and the long-form agreement is going to be signed.

"But like we heard Nigel [Walker] say the contracts are going to be on the table anyway irrespective of that so that's the most important thing - getting contracts in front of players.

"Based on the conversations we're hearing those contracts will be available to players this week."

A long-form agreement was given to the regions last week with the Professional Rugby Board (PRB) agreeing to lower the 60-cap rule to 25, and give WRPA chief executive Gareth Lewis a seat on the PRB, an organisation that runs the professional game in Wales and which includes representatives of the regions and the WRU, with Walker also on it.

The PRB has also given players the power to choose between a fixed-term contract and a fixed-element contract, but the new deal is expected to see the four regions given a significant drop in funding which has led to reports that players' salaries could face drastic cuts.

There are reports Cardiff players on salaries up to £250,000 have been offered new deals as low as £30,000 a year.

"Yeah, it's something that I've heard, and you know it just goes to show the impact that the mismanagement of the game has had and at the end of the day players have taken the brunt of it," said Hewitt.

"I haven't had any conversations at my region of that significant of a cut, but you know the cuts and the reduction in wages are pretty consistent across Wales, not that drastic, from any conversations that I've had.

"But as players we're all going to have to make sacrifices in that area. It's just a shame that it's got to this stage and that the finances of the game are in the state that they're in."

'Regions have to be the priority' - Scrum V pundits want more reform

In the face of such cuts Hewitt said some players will be forced to leave Wales to continue playing, unable to afford mortgages and maintain their lifestyles if they accept large drops in salary.

"You'd expect so, because you know the calibre of player that some are getting these offers, based on the reports, you know it's a drastic reduction in pay and it just goes to show the importance of future planning and making sure that players want to remain in Wales and getting the finances sorted so that we can retain those players.

"But at the end of the day it appears that is the situation that we're in unfortunately, and hopefully the management and the decision-makers at the union and the regions can sort it out for the future and make sure that we're not in this position ever again.

"It's an extremely difficult position for those players to be in, I'm almost lost for words.

"It's almost an impossible situation to navigate when we're being told that the finances are the finances, they're set in stone and there's no more money basically, so you couldn't blame those players if they wanted to leave and had to leave essentially, their hands essentially being forced."

Related topics