George North's possible transfer to Northampton Saints has sparked a war of words between WRU and regions First the WRU criticised its four regions, in particular the Scarlets, over the possible departure of Wales wing George North to Northampton, then the Scarlets and Regional Rugby Wales, which represents the four regions, gave their response, with the latter claiming it was "staggered and bitterly disappointed" by the comments. Many consider central contracts to be the only solution to the player drain that is affecting Welsh rugby, with seven of this year's Wales squad playing in England and France, and Jamie Roberts and Dan Lydiate both off to France next season. The WRU insists it has tried to help keep North in Wales. "The WRU first tabled an offer to discuss centrally contracting Welsh qualified regional players in August 2012 and has renewed that proposal," the WRU said. No meaningful response from the regions has been received by the WRU. The WRU revisited the issue of George North and agreed to consider assisting in a financial model to retain him in Wales with one of the four regions. The region in question was clearly not the Scarlets, though, as they said: "At no time has the WRU made any proposal to us to help retain any player international or otherwise within our region." One of the most stunning contentions from the WRU was that it had "recently discovered that the regions signed an agreement which precludes any of them playing an individual who is centrally contracted to the union." The statement added: "The WRU urges all four regions to abandon this stance and return to the negotiating table." The WRU also claimed that the recently created Professional Regional Game Board was in danger of collapse. "A memorandum of understanding was signed by all four regions and the WRU late in 2012 agreeing terms for the creation of the PRGB," the WRU said. Early in 2013 the regions sought to interpret the memorandum of understanding in a manner which was unacceptable to the WRU. On Tuesday March 26, in a desire to move matters forward, the WRU presented a new proposal for a PRGB and awaits a response from the regions. Unsurprisingly, Regional Rugby Wales does not agree with the source of fault. "Had the PRGB been implemented as originally agreed by the WRU, it would be addressing the exact issues that it has now raised in its statement," the RRW said. The only queries raised subsequently have been made by the WRU, which has in turn delayed the process.