Wales' 60-cap rule is again causing confusion on both sides of the Severn
The presence of ten English-based players in Wayne Pivac’s Wales squad for the Six Nations has caused a lot of confusion on both sides of the Severn due to the 60-cap rule.
Currently, any player with under 60-caps for Wales cannot be picked if they are not playing for a Welsh region. This, therefore, excludes both Northampton Saints’ Dan Biggar, Bath’s Taulupe Faletau and Saracens’ Liam Willams, although he is due to return to the Scarlets.
However, there are seven more players that are still based in the Gallagher Premiership who are in the squad, including the uncapped quartet of Lous Rees-Zammit, Nick Tompkins, Will Rowlands and WillGriff John.
Because these were obviously uncapped when they signed their contract with their clubs, they are exempt from the ruling.
This was also the case for Rhys Carre and Jonah Holmes when they signed for Saracens and Leicester Tigers respectively. Similarly, this ruling was not in place when Gloucester’s Owen Williams was first capped for Wales in 2017.
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While this explains why they are in the squad now, it does throw their futures into doubt. Unless a player has 60 caps at the end of their current contract, which none of those seven will have, they must play for a Welsh region in order to continue to be eligible for Wales.
This happened last summer as Cardiff Blues winger Josh Adams moved from Worcester Warriors, having been capped for his country after his last contract at Sixways.
The strategy behind Gloucester's decision to offer Louis Rees-Zammit new terms…https://t.co/NUFT7DgHgU
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 14, 2020
The concern is that there will be an exodus in the coming years, as players seek to continue representing Wales.
Gloucester were wise to this over the past week, tying Rees-Zammit down to a long-term contract extension to ensure he remains at Kingsholm for a few more years.
Tompkins’ Saracens contract also does not expire until 2022, meaning he still has two more seasons with the English and European champions.
I just wish I could be a fly on the wall in 2022 when they're telling Tompkins he has to leave Sarries and join Ospreys as he doesn't have 60 caps and it'll be better for his career..
— James Prewett (@j_prewett) January 15, 2020
So seeing as Nick Tompkins has been called up for the Wales squad, does that mean he will have to play his domestic rugby in Wales once his Saracens contract is up?
— Can I Get You a Beer (@ShepardUk) January 15, 2020
Exeter Chiefs showed the way around this ruling last season by giving Wales prop Tomas Francis a contract extension rather than a new contract, as the ruling only stipulates that the players cannot sign new contracts outside of Wales. Then again, these contract extensions will have to be something that the players want to sign.
Been said a lot but England are foolish for letting Wales get him. Quality player.
Shit for Sarries though because we now lose another player in the international windows and then when his contract ends in two years he’ll be off to Pro 14!— Grubber Rucky (@GrubberRucky) January 15, 2020
https://twitter.com/PSGAJ/status/1217449068483530753?s=20
https://twitter.com/morgan_ball96/status/1217428470835314693?s=20
Therefore, while there are ways around such a ruling, there are worries that players at clubs across England will have to leave in the future unless the ruling is scrapped by the end of their contracts.
Elsewhere, Rhys Webb also finds himself in the squad despite playing for Toulon. This debacle has transpired over the past few weeks and although he was previously excluded from the Wales squad due to being at Toulon, he can now make his return having signed for the Ospreys ahead of next season.
WATCH: Wayne Pivac announces his squad for Wales’ 2020 Guinness Six Nations campaign
Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments