03 March 2023 , 13:22
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The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) could block Liam Williams and Josh Adams from moving abroad, with several stars linked with moves away from Wales amid financial uncertainty.
Wales' four regions are facing huge budget cuts and the uncertainty meant the national team threatened to go on strike ahead of their Six Nations clash with England. While strike action was ultimately averted, the likes of Williams and Adams are reportedly considering leaving Cardiff, who are set to see their budget for next season drop by more than £2m.
Williams has been linked with a move to Japanese side Kobe Steelers, while Adams is said to be of interest to French club Lyon. However, Cardiff's Director of Rugby Dai Young has revealed that, while the club had yet to receive any "formal approaches" for their players, any moves would still need to be approved by the WRU if the player in question was a Welsh international.
"Players are looking at options elsewhere," he said. "But we have had no formal approaches from any clubs for our players to date.
"It would need to be a tri-party agreement anyway with the player, his region and the WRU if someone wanted to leave. Even if we said we were happy to release a player, the WRU would have to agree to it as well if they were a national squad member."
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Despite needing to make such stark financial cutbacks, Young believes it will all be "worthwhile" if it means none of the regions suffer the same fate as English clubs Wasps and Worcester Warriors who went into administration last year.
"Next year is a case of re-setting the whole system," Young added. "It is going to be difficult, but I'm confident that after that we can put plans in place to start moving forward. We were spending £7m plus and now we can only afford £5.2m.
Cardiff's Director of Rugby Dai Young says the club has received no official approaches for either player (Getty Images)"The game can't sustain the levels of spending. We've seen what's happened in England and all these decisions have been taken on the basis of making the game sustainable, so we don't get a Wasps or Worcester Warriors scenario.
"The actual budget we are having isn't sufficient to put a decent squad together, let alone to have one that can take us forward. We've got to make the best out of what we've got and try to put on the field a squad that can be as competitive as possible.
"After next season you would like to think we can look forward. This is better than possibly losing a region, but only as long as there is a plan to get out of it. That's the biggest thing. If next season is a re-set year with a plan to move forward, then it will be worthwhile, but this isn't something we could do every year."