THERE has been no change in the Wales management’s policy on top players leaving the Principality, insists attack coach Rob Howley.

Head coach Warren Gatland has urged players to remain in Wales if they want to continue playing for their country, though he appeared to go against his own policy when selecting back row forward Andy Powell, now with Wasps, for the autumn series and for the first Six Nations game against England.

But the alarm bells have started ringing with a near exodus of Welsh stars, all bound for France.

James Hook has signed a luctrative deal with Perpignan, believed to be worth around £1.5m over three years, while Lee Byrne is joining Clermont Auvergne in another big money move.

Gavin Henson, though not involved with Wales at the moment, has moved to Toulon, home of Jonny Wilksinson and soon to be the destination of Aussie star Matt Giteau.

Record try scoring wing Shane Williams and lock Alun Wyn Jones are being linked with Clermont as well, though scrum half Mike Phillips and flanker Sam Warburton have both said they intend remaining in Wales with the Ospreys and Cardiff Blues, respectively.

All the departing players say they have clauses in their contracts stipulating their availability for Wales, but for the games arranged outside the international window, like the first of the autumn series for example, there will be problems.

And the Wales management will have no control over the players outside the international periods, unable to limit their appearances for their new clubs as they are able to do with the regions under the terms of the Participation Agreement.

Attending all training sessions is sure to be another issue.

But Howley stressed: “We haven’t changed our policy. We want as many players as possible to play in Wales.

“They have their own decisions to make but if a player playing in Wales is similar to one playing outside, we would pick him.

“We would want the player here because we would have a little bit better control of him. When you see a player going to England or France it is a cause for concern because we need to support the Welsh regions.”

Howley, himself a former scrum half, also defended Phillips, who was heavily criticised after the England game, though he exonerated himself to a large extent against Scotland.

“Looking at the game against England, he had far too many contacts, he’s there to facilitate his backline, but he got that askew against England,” he said.

“But he had only four contacts against Scotland and he got the ball away efficiently so the backs had more opportunity and created mismatches, the best example being James Hook’s break for the first try.

“Mike stood up against Scotland, he was exceptional in defence, with his work off the floor and with his charge downs.

“We have learnt a lot from Shaun Edwards that defence wins championships.”

Howley says Wales are wary of the Italians and stressed next Saturday’s Six Nations clash at the Stadio Flaminio cannot be taken for granted.

“Italy could and should have beaten Ireland, but they would have been disappointed with their performance against England,” he said.

“Parise is a world class player with his distribution, decision making and soft hands and Zanni contributes alongside him, Canale is a direct centre and Bergamasco likes his hands on the ball.

“We want to control our game and focus on ourselves. We’re aware of the Italians’ structure and their strength at the line-outs, in particular, but it’s about our control.”