Friday 31 July 2015 10:27, UK
Warren Gatland has stressed the importance of keeping Welsh players in Wales and confirmed he is against Toby Faletau moving to Bath.
Bath coach Mike Ford confirmed he is interested in signing the Lions No 8 - who is under contract with the Newport Gwent Dragons - earlier this week but that now appears unlikely to happen.
Gatland stated last month that Faletau moving to the Aviva Premiership would not hamper his international prospects but has since reversed course.
Under the terms of the Rugby Services Agreement between the Welsh Rugby Union and regions signed last August, Faletau's move would mean Gatland would have to exercise special dispensation to select him and the Welsh coach is unwilling to limit his options.
"Given that Wales has such a small playing base with just four teams, we definitely want to keep our players in Wales," Gatland explained on Sky Sports News HQ.
"I have dispensation to pick a couple of players playing outside of Wales. For this year it is two and if Toby Faletau goes to Bath then he will be regarded as a non-qualified Welsh player and I can only pick two of those players.
"At the moment, Jamie Roberts is gone to Harlequins and Rhys Priestland is gone to Bath. If Faletau goes to Bath as well that will be three and I can only pick two of those after the World Cup.
"So I'd be limiting myself and why would I want to do that? Unless something changes, hopefully he will be staying in Wales."
Jake Ball signed a new dual contract the Welsh Rugby Union and his region, the Llanelli Scarlets, in January after rejecting a lucrative offer from Northampton and Gatland is keen to see other Welsh players follow suit.
"We signed a new agreement with the regions and we are a little bit limited in terms of our playing base because we only have four teams to select from," Gatland said.
"Thankfully the Scarlets were able to retain Jake Ball, who had a huge offer from Northampton. But he has decided to stay in Wales because he wants to play for Wales.
"The ruling is working at the moment but we need a little bit of flexibility. I want to make sure the players are not being taken advantage of – that they are not being low-balled on their salaries because they want to play for Wales."
Under the terms of the current agreement, Gatland may select two “wildcard” players next season and three the following season.
Players plying their trade overseas at the time the agreement was struck – such as Leigh Halfpenny in Toulon – were not included but will come under its scope if they elect to renew their contracts and that is something Gatland will be monitoring closely.
"We can go to the regions and the coaches if there are special circumstances," Gatland confirmed.
"If we lose three or four players at a position and we have another player playing in the Premiership or France, I can go to them and request that we select that player.
"The policy is being followed at the moment and we just have to see how it works out over the next season or two.
"It will be interesting to see what happens if players do re-sign with Premiership clubs - if George North re-signs with Northampton and some players re-sign in France.
"There may be a number of players we won’t be selecting for Wales following the World Cup because they are playing outside of Wales."
