Anscombe offered a £100,000 cut in pay

Ospreys have offered Gareth Anscombe a reduced contract for next season amounting to a pay cut of around £100,000-a-year.

The new deal reflects the impoverished state of a Welsh game brought to its knees by crises on and off the pitch, hence today's vote on a proposal for sweeping change at an extraordinary general meeting of the Welsh Rugby Union's member clubs.

Anscombe, hit by two serious injuries in the four years since orchestrating Wales' last Grand Slam, hopes to make his latest comeback before his Ospreys' contract expires at the end of the season. The new one is based on what one source describes as ‘a substantial reduction' believed to be at least 25 per cent.

The return of a fit Anscombe, understood to be in the top band of those on a basic salary of circa £400,000-a-year, is one reason why head coach Warren Gatland believes Wales will spring a few surprises at the World Cup this autumn.

A late appearance against the Springboks last year proved long enough for Anscombe to secure an unlikely win of historic proportion.

He made a winning return as the starting fly-half under Wayne Pivac against Argentina last November only to smash a shoulder against Australia at a time when Wales were in command of a match they lost without him. He has not played since.

Ospreys say he returned to full training last week but his absence yesterday from the 23 against the Dragons suggests they are unlikely to rush him back for next Sunday's Champions Cup tie at Saracens.

In the four seasons since joining Ospreys from Cardiff, Anscombe has been restricted to 14 appearances, the last against Glasgow six months ago.

“It's a pity we've seen so little of him,'' an Ospreys official said. “It's also a pity for Gareth because he's battled so hard for so long. With a bit of luck, we'll see him back in action soon.''

That action is unlikely to extend beyond the World Cup. Anscombe, 32 next month, has no shortage of prospective employers in Japan and France offered him a more lucrative deal than the reduced one on the table in Swansea.