Almost exactly three years ago, Warren Gatland dismissed Rhys Carre from Wales’ World Cup training squad, declaring him unfit for purpose.
A few weeks earlier the Welsh Rugby Union had seen fit to reaffirm its rule banning those with fewer than 25 caps who dared to cross the Severn Bridge or the English Channel in search of a more rewarding future.
The number had been reduced from 60 to help appease a mutinous squad threatening industrial action over contractual issues not of their making.
The Union warned that the rule, designed to ensure the brightest and best stayed put in an increasing...