26 February 2023 , 15:04
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England rugby legend Matt Dawson has urged rugby bosses to consider 'fractious and innovative' ideas in a bid to grow the sport.
Dawson, who was part of the 2003 World Cup winning squad, has highlighted LIV Golf and the Indian Premier League in cricket which have divided sports but also helped them to progress. This comes after a week of turmoil in Welsh rugby when players threatened to strike and cancel their Six Nations match against England.
The match, which was believed to be worth close to £9million for the WRU, was eventually played with England running out 20-10 winners in Cardiff.
The decision to call off the planned player strike came after the WRU had failed to give any precise plan for the future of the regions and national team beyond this summer with a freeze placed on contracts. In his column for BBC Sport, Dawson says that rugby union hasn't moved on since turning professional in 1995 and 'innovative ideas' are now needed.
"Rugby is an enormous product but we need innovative thinking to turn it into an attractive, lucrative and commercial sport," said Dawson.
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World Cup winner Matt Dawson says that 'innovative ideas' are needed to progress rugby (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Do you agree with Matt Dawson about how rugby can progress? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section
"I think we can compare it with the Premier League, which started in 1992. With the Premier League, football looked to the future.
"Then you look at cricket. Things are not perfect in cricket and there have been some massive sacrifices. Everyone hated the Indian Premier League initially but now it is an integral part of the calendar. The players want to play in it and the fans want to see it.
LIV Golf is holding their first competition of an expanded series in Mexico this weekend (Getty Images)"It will be the same with LIV Golf. There is so much furore around that breakaway competition at the moment, but at some stage it is all going to come together and move golf to a completely different level. You need that fractious and innovative thinking. It will upset people along the way but it is for the good of the sport.
"Rugby has needed that for many years and it has some big calls to make now."
The Mail reported last week that WRU CEO Nigel Walker told the players the sport will suffer significant ramifications if they opted to sit out the match against England.
Wales players called off their planned strike and played England in Cardiff on Saturday (CameraSport via Getty Images)With approximately 90 Wales-based stars out of contact at the end of the season, the players are understood to have outlined three demands to Walker.
They included scrapping the 60-cap rule restricting players from playing domestic rugby outside of Wales and also featuring at international level unless they have that number of Test appearances. Also removing the fixed-variable element of contracts and having players a seat at the table of Professional Rugby Board meetings.
Dawson added that the planned strike was a 'symptom of wider problems in rugby'.