Between the epics in the World Cup and the thirty-nine titles in the Six Nations Tournament, the great book of Welsh rugby is not short of chapters. Saturday February 25, 2023, the XV of Leek almost added a new page which it would have done well. That day, the Welsh lost on the lawn of the Principality Stadium in Cardiff against England, as part of the Six Nations (20-10). A painful home defeat but which almost represented a happy epilogue after weeks of high tension. Scrambled with their federation (WRU), the players had long threatened to strike and dry out the meeting, before backpedaling.
No worries for the Bordeaux spectators, the team all dressed in red will present themselves on Sunday September 10, at Matmut Atlantique, for their first match of the 2023 World Cup, against Fiji (9 p.m.).
The fact remains that the setback against England did not resolve the deep crisis, both sporting and economic, in Wales. Penultimate in the Six Nations Tournament, the Red Dragons no longer scare anyone, as evidenced by this stinging slap inflicted by the South Africans (52-16), on August 19, in a test match that had nothing friendly.
Dying on the pitch, the Welsh players had to leave the green rectangle to enter the ring against the WRU at the start of the year. To cope with its financial difficulties, the federation has tried to reduce the wages of its jewels – unlike the French, most of the best Welsh players are under federal contracts and are distributed in the four franchises of the country. A situation that did not pass with the stars of the Leek XV, especially since the WRU project was to condition part of the salaries on the results. And therefore almost led to a strike.
Powerless referee of this sad fight, the coach Warren Gatland would like to be everywhere, except on the bench of the XV of Leek. The New Zealander, who stacked trophies with Wales between 2007 and 2019, was called up to the rescue at the start of the year to try to close the valve of poor results. “When I arrived I had no idea what was going on and the issues with rugby, the team and the players, he explained in June, in a BBC podcast. At the time, if I had known, I would have made a different decision and probably gone somewhere else. »
A surprise wave of retirements
To his dismay, he is not the only one to have wanted to slam the door of the selection. Stars of the team have even taken action, including legend Alun Wyn Jones (158 caps). The 37-year-old Welsh captain announced his international retirement in May, to everyone’s surprise and a few months before the World Cup. If he did not specify the reason for this hasty stop, the timing questions and suggests a disagreement with his federation on the renewal of his contract.
You have 54.59% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.