When Bath Rugby faced off against Exeter Chiefs at the Recreation Ground in the Gallagher Prem semi-final a couple of weeks ago, one thing crossed my mind.
Before you ask, no, it wasn’t Santi Carreras not going for the drop goal (although I think he should have), it wasn’t the fact that Exeter came from a 16-point deficit to claim the spoils, it was even before the first whistle.
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In this job, you get the pleasures of being provided with great access when covering matches, one of which is getting into the grounds hours before kick-off. Here you get to see the players on the pitch go through their pre-match routines, imagining plays in their heads, and also travelling reserves carrying tackling bags for warmups.
Now this is where something crossed my mind: Wales’ new call-up for the inaugural Nations Championship, Kane James, comes into frame. For context, Wales have been training at their base in the Vale of Glamorgan for a considerable amount of time.
Yet James was still on club duties with Exeter. But he didn’t play a part in the Sandy Park side’s famous 27-26 victory; instead, he was like the rest of us watching from the sidelines.
Although he played only 180 seconds in the Prem final against Northampton Saints, I think this paints a clear picture of where Welsh rugby is being put at a disadvantage.
Now there is a lot of context to this piece. The United Rugby Championship (URC) regular season concluded in May, and players deserved a respite before returning to training. Cardiff Rugby players had a longer break due to their spirited performance against the Stormers in the URC quarter-finals.
But the Prem regular season concluded on June 6, with only a small number of Welsh players involved in the play-off semi-finals. However, those players whose seasons had concluded that weekend are nowhere to be seen at the Vale Resort training base.
As Wales prepare for a tricky three-Test window against Fiji, Argentina, and South Africa, a familiar frustration continues to simmer behind the scenes. It’s a complete nightmare for head coach Steve Tandy as some of the nation’s top players are unavailable to train with the squad.
Meanwhile, across at Pennyhill Park, England’s training HQ, players who have been selected for the Nations Championship have joined up. These players in the Prem are already being integrated into Steve Borthwick’s camp, taking part in sessions and meetings, and starting preparation weeks before the daunting trip to Ellis Park, Johannesburg, to face South Africa.
It does feel a bit of a contradiction. If both sets of players compete in the same league, for the same period of time, why can one national side access them while the other cannot? It really is baffling. But they are the rules and the agreement.
It’s a good job for Tandy and his side that this isn’t a repeat of the pointless humiliation last November against the Springboks. Saturday, they face the Barbarians in an uncapped fixture at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
This is a much smarter fixture to be held outside of the international window, where Wales’ depth won’t be as severely tested as it was in that harrowing 73-0 defeat.
It’s a real hindrance for Wales, and does highlight the fundamental challenges Welsh rugby faces in the modern era. 14 of Tandy’s 46-player extended squad play their rugby outside of Wales and aren’t available. This number will be whittled down following the contest against the invitational Baa-Baas side.
Tandy himself knows of the challenges, especially following the exciting announcement of uncapped youngsters James and Bryn Bradley being involved in the squad. “You get used to (not having players available)”, he added.
“Every campaign is different, whether it’s autumn, summer or Six Nations. We can always think of what we’d like it to be, but ultimately it’s not.
“You learn from experiences. It’s a good opportunity for us to connect up and share information. We’ve been speaking to all these players relatively regularly.
“It is what it is. It’s up to us coaches to make it as simple and refined as possible for players when they come in so they can be the best version of themselves.”
With that said, England’s obvious relationship with their domestic league and the formal agreement between the Rugby Football Union and the league’s clubs themselves allows them greater access to players outside of World Rugby release periods.
Face-to-face meetings among players, whereas for Wales individual calls and meetups, and cohesion doesn’t build momentum.
For England, this allows them to have additional camps for players on the periphery of selection throughout the season, and it doesn’t all seem like a mad rush to get everyone up to speed with the rigorous demands of international rugby.
This gives Borthwick and his backroom team precious time with players, where they can plan moves, test combinations, all still with a Test against the world champions in the distance.
This is the time that Tandy and his team do not enjoy with their players who are contracted to English clubs.
The number of Welsh internationals playing outside Wales will continue to rise over the next few years due to the sombre and uncertain landscape of Welsh rugby. That’s just a matter of fact. That’s a spoiler instead of a prediction.
Gatland’s law was brought into to change this and deter players from signing lucrative contracts in England or France. But that has worked splendidly, hasn’t it?
To name just three, Wales’ captain Jac Morgan, Dewi Lake, and Dragons RFC stalwart Aaron Wainwright have all defected to playing their club rugby in the Prem from next season.
These are three of Tandy’s most influential players, all about to be not easy to manage, monitor and prepare for international rugby.
England has that luxury, that Tandy so deeply would crave. Supporters, as they should, focus on selection ahead of matches and results; the reality for this summer’s matches may already have been determined.
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