WRU & Gatland Block Wales & Lions Star’s Proposed Move

Warren Gatland and the WRU have blocked the proposed move of Welsh international Toby Faletau to Bath.

Newport Gwent Dragons were refused permission to proceed with their proposed transfer of their number no.8, who is out of contract at the end of the season.

For a Welsh international player to move from a Welsh club to a club outside of Wales, both Gatland and the Welsh Rugby Union need to approve of the move.

The WRU introduced the Welsh Rugby Service Agreement which is a policy aimed at limiting the number of players being selected from outside Wales in future. What the policy essentially ensures is that the majority of Welsh international squads are picked from the four Welsh teams with only two players, known as “wild card” players, can be selected from outside Wales.

These rules were implemented by the WRU to ensure that they can control when these Welsh players can report for training camps or released for squads.

The Newport Gwent Drgaons can probably feel aggrieved by the decision as Faletau is essentially a free agent when his contract runs out next summer and can sign anywhere but if the Dragons were able to sell Faletau now they could obtain a transfer fee for him.