22 February 2023 , 17:51
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England's Six Nations clash with Wales in Cardiff this weekend is ON.
Welsh players have called off a strike over a dispute with WRU bosses over their contracts. The two parties have been locked in talks for weeks and a deadline of Wednesday afternoon was set after a further meeting at the Vale Hotel.
The WRU had failed to give any precise plan for the future of the regions and national team beyond this summer, with players meeting the Professional Rugby Board (PRB), which runs the professional game in Wales.
A resolution has materialised and it has now been confirmed that the match at the Principality Stadium on Saturday will go ahead. The match is believed to be worth close to £9m for the WRU.
Wales had lost their first two Six Nations matches to Scotland and Ireland while England bounced back from their opening defeat to Scotland against Italy last time out.
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Acting WRU chief executive Nigel Walker said: "I'm pleased to announce that after extensive conversations and discussions over the last week the Wales-England game will go ahead as scheduled.
"It's important going forward that we continue the dialogue over the last week or so, but not under the circumstances we've had over the last week or so.
"Ken [Owens, Wales captain] and I and some of the senior players will be meeting more regularly than perhaps we have in the past."
Owens said: "We are obviously happy. There has been huge frustration over the last number of months that it got to this stage. We felt we had to make a stand, but the conversations that have taken place over the last 10 days or so have shown that some positive resolutions can be found.
Wales players have called off their threat to strike (PA)"The players are satisfied, hence why the game is on on Saturday. It has been very tough, hugely frustrating. It has been a difficult period, but we have fronted up in training and prepared as we would for any Test match and we are looking forward to getting out there and going toe-to-toe with England.
"Of course it has been a distraction with everything that has been going on, but I have got to commend the players' professionalism in this.
"When we have crossed that white line at training, we've done our work as professional players. We are really ready for Saturday."