PETER JACKSON
THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW
Those who drew up the four top seedings for the World Cup defied most perceived logic by placing Wales in the highest banding alongside South Africa, England and New Zealand. As if their current plight down in the depths of the official top 10 isn't embarrassing enough, World Rugby's decision to rank the first four on how they finished in Japan 2019 is in danger of being exposed to further ridicule, this time from Wales itself.
They have three second rows of proven international ability: Adam Beard, Will Rowlands, Alun Wyn Jones. The first is a Test Lion, the second is the reigning Welsh player of the year and the third is hanging on for one more global hurrah.
Three, of course, is one too few. If the Welsh Rugby Union abides by its own rules, Rowlands will be declared ineligible and the choice of Test-class locks will shrivel to two; a state of affairs almost too absurd to comprehend.
Rowlands joined the Dragons from Wasps last year to further his international ambitions. The contract renewal offered jointly by the WRU and the Newport-based region remained unsigned on the basis that the player felt his rising stature made him worth more.
Locked into their usual wrangle with the four regions over a new agreement belatedly announced last week, the WRU froze all offers. In the meantime, Racing came along with an offer which Rowlands found too good to refuse.
He will no longer be a Dragon once the season ends which means falling foul of the contentious rule enforced by the WRU to keep their best players at home. No player with fewer than 60 caps playing for a non-Welsh club can be eligible for Wales.
Rowlands, 39 Tests short of avoiding such a fate, has been forced to make a choice, just as one of his predecessors, Corey Hill, made the same choice rather than turn down a big offer from Japan.
Nobody ought to criticise any player for putting financial security first even if it costs him his Test future. Warren Gatland, the most pragmatic of coaches, has to find a way of ensuring that Wales avoid the risk of failing to get out of their pool in France because of a self-inflicted handicap.
Will Rowlands simply has to play at the World Cup.
