Just £25k would have stopped Bath signing Taulupe Faletau

Bath would have missed out on Taulupe Faletau had the Welsh Rugby Union been willing to pay an extra £25,000-a-year.
Newport Gwent Dragons believe they have been badly short-changed by their own governing body.    They want to know why the Union refused to increase the player’s club salary of £325,000-a-year to £350,000 for a dual contract, a failure which they claim allowed Bath to sign the best No. 8 in Europe for £400,000-a-year without paying a penny of a transfer fee.
Dragons chairman Martyn Hazell told The Rugby Paper yesterday: “The WRU could have kept ‘Toby’ in Wales without a problem. They said they didn’t want to break the bank.   We don’t think they had to.”
Faletau refused to sign a dual contract last season, but the Union reopened negotiations three weeks ago after the player let it be known he was prepared to do a U-turn and sign a long-term joint deal with club and country.
“The WRU were only willing to pay him what we are paying him,” Hazell said. “I was told by his agent that if the deal had been worth a bit more he would have been happy to stay. It wouldn’t have taken a lot, another £25,000 or so.”
“The player was adamant that he would not be joining any of the other Welsh regions.  We were confident he would be staying with us right up until the day Bath made their announcement.
“The WRU opened negotiations with him over a dual contract last month. They had a big opportunity and they’ve missed it.
“They’ve messed us about and turned us over. They refused to let us release him from his current contract a few weeks back and that cost us £150,000 in a transfer fee from Bath which we can’t get now. From next season, Bath will have their own Welsh enclave – Luke Charteris, Rhys Priestland and Toby.”
The Dragons are demanding an explanation of WRU policy which allows their most automatic selection, at 25 a veteran of 52 Tests, to leave.
“There is a need to consider the implications in a wider context so we can understand how the national dual contract is working, or in this case not working. I want a full review of how the negotiation was handled.”
The WRU say they “accepted Faletau’s decision in which he identified a desire to pursue a new rugby challenge”. Their refusal to be drawn into what they call “a bidding war” can be taken as a tacit admission that they will not compete with the market rate.
That was why they withdrew their offer to renew Scott Williams’ dual contract.   Wasps tabled a bid of £320,000 for the Scarlets‘ centre which prompted the Ospreys‘ audacious attempt to sign their neighbours’ most prized asset.
The Scarlets matched the bid and Williams signed a three-year deal on Friday. “If it had been left to the WRU, Williams would probably have signed for Wasps because their deal was worth a lot more than the dual contract,” one source said. “He’s staying in Wales but only because two Welsh regions were prepared to pay the market rate.”
The Faletau case suggests the WRU have set a £350,000-a-year ceiling on dual contracts. That said, Leigh Halfpenny will have to take a pay cut of £225,000-a-year for the ‘privilege’ of coming home when his Toulon contract runs out next summer.
PERTER JACKSON