By Steffan Thomas

Copyright walesonline

Rugby’s proposed rebel competition, R360, suffered a major blow this week as the majority of leading rugby nations united in opposition. Five of the SIx Nations teams, along with New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, announced a blanket ban on any R360 contracted player remaining eligible for international rugby. This is a blow to players who were either considering or had agreed to join R360 because the competition organisers had promised the competition would not affect their international ambitions. The statement created headlines across the globe, but there was one country particularly conspicuous by its absence in the joint stance – namely, Wales, who are often aligned with the other home nations as a Six Nations stakeholder. “As a group of national rugby unions, we are urging extreme caution for players and support staff considering joining the proposed R360 competition,” the statement read. “Each of the national unions will be advising men’s and women’s players that participation in R360 would make them ineligible for international selection. “We all welcome new investment and innovation in rugby, and support ideas that can help the game evolve and reach new audiences, but any new competition must strengthen the sport as a whole, not fragment or weaken it. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. “R360 has given us no indication as to how it plans to manage player welfare, how players would fulfil their aspirations of representing their countries, and how the competition would coexist with the international and domestic calendars so painstakingly negotiated in recent years for both our men’s and women’s games. “These are all issues that would have been much better discussed collaboratively, but those behind the proposed competition have not engaged with or met all unions to explain and better understand their business and operating model. “The R360 model, as outlined publicly, rather appears designed to generate profits and return them to a very small elite, potentially hollowing out the investment that national unions and existing leagues make in community rugby, player development, and participation pathways.” But the Welsh Rugby union did not put its name to it, opting to take a more reserved stance. Instead they came up with the following: “The Welsh Rugby Union supports this statement, and we are considering changes we may need to make to qualification rules in Wales as part of ongoing analysis following our recent consultation process. “As we continue to analyse and understand the proposals, we reserve the right not to select men’s and women’s players for international duty if they participate in this competition.” R360 has the potential to change the face of professional rugby union which could seriously harm the current domestic competitions like the United Rugby Championship of the Gallagher Prem. So, why has the WRU not announced a full blanket ban on Steve Tandy selecting any player who joins R360. like the other countries? It’s all tied to the fact he game in Wales is on a precipice, with its future hanging in the balance. Over the past month the WRU undertook a formal consultation process after announcing its optimal solution to a radically altered professional game is a reduction from four to two professional sides with significant central control. Emotions are already high in Welsh rugby, especially amongst the players, so the WRU had to be cautious. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free The optimal solution put forward by the WRU’s director of rugby and elite performance, Dave Reddin, would ultimately result in a number of players either being forced to take up contracts outside of Wales or having to give up professional rugby altogether. What has been proposed, or an alternative model with three teams, is ultimately going to cause a lot of pain and suffering to many players. While the 25-cap law remains in place, if the WRU was to come out and put a total ban on Test players taking up lucrative contracts in R360 it could push the players over the edge. The threat of potential strike action during the November internationals must also have been in the WRU’s thoughts, with Dave Reddin already addressing such a possible move. As WalesOnline reported in August, up to 15 Wales internationals including Jac Morgan, Louis Rees-Zammit and Aaron Wainwright, among others, are targets of R360. It is understood some players had already informed R360 of their intention to sign. Given Wales’ shallow talent pool, the lack of financial clout in Welsh rugby and the threat of reducing professional tems the WRU are in a weaker position than other tier one nations. Some people within the game have even suggested playing for Wales is not as much of a pull as it once was and players may even forsake the opportunity to play Test rugby in favour of big money contracts elsewhere. Imagine 15 Welsh players decide to take up contracts in R360 – the national side would be decimated which would make it almost impossible for Tandy to drag Wales out of the hole they currently find themselves in. R360, which aims to launch in October 2026, plans to offer some players contracts of up to £750,000 a year, while players would own their own IP meaning they wouldn’t be owned by their team or R360, maximising their off-field earning capacity. All players will be able to choose their country of residence and won’t be asked to reside in their franchise location, be it London, Miami, Tokyo, Dubai, Boston, Cape Town, Madrid or Lisbon. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here. It is not out of the question players take up such an attractive offer and sacrifice the honour of playing international rugby, or they could just take sabbaticals. The reality is the WRU’s current stance on R360 is probably a sensible one given the off-field uncertainty in Wales. Rugby’s proposed rebel competition, R360, suffered a major blow this week as the majority of leading rugby nations united in opposition. Five of the SIx Nations teams, along with New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, announced a blanket ban on any R360 contracted player remaining eligible for international rugby. This is a blow to players who were either considering or had agreed to join R360 because the competition organisers had promised the competition would not affect their international ambitions. The statement created headlines across the globe, but there was one country particularly conspicuous by its absence in the joint stance – namely, Wales, who would normally be joined with the other home nations as a Six Nations stakeholder.