FORMER Welsh rugby union captain Alun Wyn Jones says players may refuse to take the field for the Wales v England game if the WRU doesn’t sort out pay and contract issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But how do fans feel about the move? The Cardiffian <\/em>went out the streets of Cardiff to find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonathan Doyle from Cork said: \u201cWell, I\u2019m down here visiting with my three boys, and we\u2019d be very disappointed if the game was called off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHowever, I\u2019m still fully behind the players and I believe it\u2019s up to the people in charge to sort things out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Nathan Jenkins from Treherbert said: “I\u2019ll be honest, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s ever right for players not to do their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt the end of the day they\u2019re still on good money and people pay a lot to go and watch them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Welsh Rugby Players\u2019 Association said it wanted to avoid strike action and that “members want to be taking the field as they always have”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Welsh coach Warren Gatland said that while he \u201ccompletely supports the stance players are taking,\u201d he would not be in favour of strike action, even as a last resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The dispute between the WRPA and the Professional Rugby Board is largely over pay, which was reduced by 20% during the pandemic and would be cut further based on current proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alun Wyn Jones said players felt \u201cboxed in\u201d by what is on the table. \u201cThis should have been sorted a long time ago,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Wednesday, the PRB said there was \u201cno room for negotiation,\u201d over player demand for increased wages and the removal of a salary cap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The PRB said the average salary of a Welsh rugby player under the new framework would be about \u00a3100,000 per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Thursday, the WRPA called on the PRB to “prioritise fair agreement” and acknowledge “the position and wellbeing of the game’s main assets, which are its players”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wales are due to welcome England to Cardiff on February 25, but if a resolution is not agreed by then, the grudge match could be abandoned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alun Wyn Jones has warned the WRU it has just days to sort out issues or team may refuse to take to the field<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":905,"featured_media":48520,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,4],"tags":[1291,1018,328,752,765,1030],"coauthors":[8079],"class_list":["post-74336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby","category-sport","tag-cardiff-2","tag-england-rugby","tag-six-nations","tag-strikes","tag-welsh-rugby-union","tag-wru"],"yoast_head":"\n