Shane Williams column: Senseless Gatland’s Law should be binned
I thought the agreement meant players turning own offers from Welsh regions to play abroad would not be picked.
But when Jamie Roberts turned down Cardiff Blues for Harlequins last year, it turns out he can still be picked.
Since then Luke Charteris and Taulupe Faletau have both joined Rhys Priestland in Bath, George North has signed a new deal with Northampton Saints and this week we have seen Tomas Francis
re-sign with Exeter Chiefs.
And that’s before you consider Leigh Halfpenny at Toulon and Ross Moriarty in Gloucester.
Gatland is allowed two ‘wild-cards’ but with all the ‘ifs and buts’, I’m not sure anyone knows for certain who he can and can’t pick out of that lot.
And if his hands are tied, who on earth do you select? A third of the Wales team that faced the All Blacks in the final Test in New Zealand last month were based abroad.
Could we now have a situation where, say, Samson Lee is injured so Francis has to be picked at tight-head which means someone like Faletau has to miss out under this law?
I think there would be uproar if Gatland was not allowed to pick his best team because of some stipulation. Wales doesn’t have the same strength in depth as other rugby nations so we simply can’t handicap ourselves like that.
Gatland is in a difficult position. He is stuck between doing the best for the Wales national side and the desire to help the regions. Let’s face it, this is not HIS law, even if does have his name on it.
The Welsh Rugby Union are a big organisation and there is plenty of politics going on behind the scenes with the four regions, so the head coach is only part of the process.
Over the past 18-24 months, we have heard a lot of talk about stopping talent leaving, such as Sam Warburton and Alun Wyn Jones, and then bring some boys back, as we’ve seen with the likes of Jonathan Davies, Bradley Davies and Matthew Morgan.
Clearly this has a great effect on the regions as we try to make them more competitive than they have been.
But this is a professional sport and you can’t stop players accepting huge offers to play in England or France.
I remember when James Hook was playing for the Ospreys and was first approached by Perpignan. It was a life-changing offer. James had a young family to think about and no-one at the Ospreys could deny him that chance.
Careers are getting shorter and players have only a limited time to set themselves up for life when they retire.
Separate to the money is the rugby issue. No-one can deny Faletau has been loyal to Newport Gwent Dragons. He could have taken the money and run three years earlier after the British Lions.
But he stayed because he was happy at the Dragons and wanted to repay their work with him.
During the past three years, the Dragons have gone nowhere and now a team is in for him that has won the European Cup and will be challenging for silverware again.
What is better for Faletau as a player, to be slogging at the bottom of the Pro12 or fighting for the Aviva Premiership title? It’s a no-brainer. I know it may not be what the Dragons wanted, but you cannot blame Taulupe for that.
Australia found a way around their overseas ban by allowing senior players with a certain number of caps, such as Matt Giteau, Quade Cooper and Drew Mitchell, to return.
Even New Zealand allow their players a ‘sabbatical’ abroad to make some cash in Europe.
So Wales should not fall into the trap of limiting their options with a law that makes little sense anyway.
