THE Welsh Rugby Union are risking the wrath of the fans by getting into bed with Sky and ignoring previous long-term partners the BBC when it comes to the England double header next month.

It's all about money, of course, with the Welsh Rugby Union set to make a record £2.5m from the deal with the RFU over the Twickenham game on August 6.

The RFU are expecting a full house of 82,000 for the fixture even if it is taking place in high summer, arranged as a World Cup warm-up.

The two unions have arranged a 50-50 split over the money, and the same will apply for the return at the Millennium Stadium a week later.

But the arrangement has been attacked by fans and pundits alike, one ex-committeeman Barry Michael saying he is disgusted and Phil Bennett calling the decision sad.

Michael points out that clubs can't afford to have Sky installed at several thousand pounds and accuses the WRU of jumping into bed with Sky without negotiating a concessionary rate for clubs, as do English rugby and cricket clubs because of their governing bodies' contracts with Sky.

Bennett calls it a backward step in line with the decision to award caps for the Barbarians game at the beginning of last month.

He says he knows people who are sending Sky back as they can't afford it and laments the fact that fans who are unable to travel to Cardiff won't now be able to watch the England game.

The WRU will, of course, argue that they need all the money they can get to fund the sport with its ever increasing financial demands.

But surely there has to be a limit all the same. World Cup warm-up matches are traditional now, but that is on top of four, not three, internationals in November and a game in the summer as well, in June or July.

And despite there being no autumn internationals this year because of the World Cup the WRU have still fitted in another game against Australia on December 3.

How they expect the increasingly hard-up fans to keep shelling out goodness only knows. The Barbarians match attracted a paltry 31,000 fans and advance ticket sales for the Argentina match on August 20 are said to be down around the 20,000 mark despite a two for one offer by the marketing department.

It really is overkill and now many fans are angry that they can't even watch the England double header on TV, with in many cases their local pub not showing the games either because they can't afford Sky.

Attendance at the December fixture just weeks before Christmas will depend very much on how Wales fare in the World Cup.

Coach Warren Gatland denies he is being conservative despite a poor return in tries scored this year and promises to be attack minded during the tournament - though ironically that is probably not the way to approach the Fiji and Samoa group matches.

Wales got sucked into adopting the Fijian style in the last World Cup and came a cropper, bundled out of the tournament in France before the knock-out stages and coach Gareth Jenkins paid the ultimate price. This time Wales face them in their final group match after playing holders South Africa in what is sure to be a bruising opener, then Samoa who will probably be fresh from a romp against chopping blocks Namibia.

There's going to have to be a huge improvement on a winless autumn series in phase one, a disappointing fourth place finish in the Six Nations in phase two with the third and final phase to follow next month with those two England matches followed by Argentina. One training camp has been held in Poland with another to follow this month. It's fingers crossed they have done the trick because World Cup prospects don't look too good from this distance.