Toulon insist they have binding contract to sign Rhys Webb as Wales international claims he didn't know about rule change
Wales head coach Warren Gatland believes Webb can still pull out of his move to Toulon, which has triggered a firm response from the French club's owner Mourad Boudjellal
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Your support makes all the difference.Confusion continues to reign over Rhys Webb’s international future after Toulon insisted they have a binding contract with the Wales scrum-half to sign him at the end of the current season, a move that will effectively end his Test career unless he moves back to his homeland.
The 28-year-old has agreed a deal to join French side Toulon for the start of the 2018/19 season in a move that was announced on 10 October, with the current Ospreys half-back signing a three-year contract. Just one week after the signing was announced though, the Welsh Rugby Union changed its Senior Player Selection Policy [SPSP], ditching ‘Gatland’s Law’ that allowed up to four players based outside of Wales to be selected and instead imposing a 60-cap threshold for anyone playing abroad.
While Webb’s half-back partner at the Ospreys, Dan Biggar, looks set to reach the 60-cap minimum before he joins Northampton Saints next summer – needing four more caps to do so – Webb has only made 26 appearances and will be well short of the number needed to remain available for international selection.
Toulon initially announced that they had reached “a fair deal has been found in good faith with regard to [Webb’s] national selection in the interest of both parties”, but Wales head coach Warren Gatland suggested on Monday that Webb may have to choose to snub Toulon to remain in Wales and keep his international career alive – providing he has only signed a pre-contract.
Toulon, however, insist he has not.
“I have a contract with Webb,” Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal told French newspaper L'Equipe.
“If Warren Gatland wants to pay the clause to release him, no worry.
“But if Gatland pays, it will require a certified cheque. I've heard from neither Webb nor his agent today but it does not change anything for us. I am very quiet.”
Webb himself cast doubt on the discussions over the new SPSP deal by claiming neither he nor his agent was informed about the incoming policy change, which will result in Webb missing the 2019 Rugby World Cup if he sees out his contract with Toulon.
"It's a real blow," Webb told Wales Online. "I am very disappointed at the news because I love playing for Wales. It means a huge amount to me.
“I didn't know the full implications when I agreed to join Toulon because the change in the selection policy came out after I signed.”
The dispute could also see legal action considered, given that Webb may have signed a full contract to join Toulon before Monday 16 October, the day that is stated by the WRU as the trigger for the new SPSP deal. Any existing contracts before that date will be honoured by the WRU and exempt from the 60-cap rule, meaning the likes of Ross Moriarty and Tomas Francis are free to play for Wales until their current deals expire with Gloucester and Exeter Chiefs respectively.
Gatland will consider the future of those players based abroad over the next three weeks ahead of the autumn internationals, and if there is no clear indication that a return to Wales is in the pipeline, he will consider exiling them from the team.
In the short-term that's going to be his own decision and only he will know
In regards to Webb’s situation, Gatland is of the belief that it is only a pre-contract signed by his first-choice No 9, and that the Ospreys star could perform a U-turn on the move over the coming months if he wants to keep his Test career alive beyond next summer.
“It's a pre-agreement and I think, under law, once you've signed a contract that's binding but, before that [with a pre-agreement], both parties could potentially walk away from that,” Gatland told BBC Sport Wales.
“In the short-term that's going to be his own decision and only he will know.
“I spoke to Rhys a number of weeks ago and he said, given his age, given his injury history, he's made a decision to go there and it was a personal decision he felt he couldn't walk away from, life-changing in terms of his future for him and his family.”
The row has overshadowed the build-up to Wales’ autumn international programme, which Webb will still be eligible for, as Gatland prepares to return to his duties with the nation after his season-long excursion with the British and Irish Lions – a job that the New Zealander has confirmed he will not do again after “hating” this year’s tour. Wales take on Australia, Georgia, New Zealand and South Africa at the Principality Stadium.
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