IF Wales players carry out their threat to strike for the England game at Twickenham next week they face the threat of never being chosen for their country again.

There has been an incredible new twist to the row with the Welsh Rugby Union. The owners of the Gang of Six clubs initially threatened to pull their players out of the Scotland game at the Millennium Stadium on April 6 over the Union's lack of funding for the professional game.

Now the leading players have got together and have threatened not to play against England a week Saturday unless their grievances are sorted by the WRU. Those gievances are supposed to concern the number of clubs, salary caps, loan players for the Heineken Cup and a limit on foreign players.

It is not absolutely clear whether it is just the players from the Gang of Six clubs or the entire squad.

If it is the latter then the Welsh team to face England and Scotland will have to come from Caerphilly and the First Division teams.

But a member of the WRU committee said: "If they carry out their threat then there is the feeling we should let them go and start from scratch.

"The backlash against them will be immense, but the last thing the clubs should do is use the players as pawns. They would only shoot themselves in the foot."

Wales team manager Alan Phillips said the whole issue has got to be sorted out quickly. The key meeting is tomorrow night when the WRU general committee get together. "The players are the meat in the sandwich and I feel sorry for them. They've got houses with mortgages to pay and families to look after," said Phillips.

"We haven't worried about it yet, but a decision has to be made sooner rather than later. There will be no second bite at the cherry."