This is a wake-up call: rugby authorities must listen or face further strike threats

W ales against England goes ahead on Saturday – disaster has been averted and tools will not be downed – but rest assured that each and every union and league around the world will be paying close attention to recent events. Player power has never been stronger, the penny is dropping over the importance of having a voice and administrators around the world must recognise and welcome that or face similar problems of their own.

That is not to sound overly militant but let’s take English rugby as an example, play devil’s advocate and imagine what might have happened had the remaining 11 Premiership clubs all gone on strike over the governance of Worcester and Wasps. The danger is to blame the current problems facing the sport on the pandemic – when they actually pre-date it – but Covid did lead to greater transparency and gave a better view of all those issues. They had been papered over for too long but Covid exposed them.

Players agreed to take pay cuts in the early days of the pandemic but dealing with things like that led to a collectivism among playing squads. There was a recognition of the importance of uniting and making their voices heard because, as much as playing rugby for a living is an enormous privilege and something I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have been able to do, it is still a job and there are always going to be problems that go with it. Add in greater awareness of player welfare, a recognition that careers are short – around eight years on average in the Premiership – and the cost of living crisis and there’s somewhat of a perfect storm at the moment.

As a result, unions and leagues have to adapt and give players more representation and increased voting powers. At the end of the day, the