Welsh Rugby Union chief executive David Moffett is worried big-spending French clubs could poach all their best players and will raise the issue at the next Six Nations meeting.

Welsh Rugby Union chief executive David Moffett is worried big-spending French clubs could poach all their best players and will raise the issue at the next Six Nations meeting.

"France are artificially inflating the transfer market. I don't think it's sustainable, but they have benefactors with deep pockets," Moffett told BBC TV.

"I will make my concerns known to the French Union, but I'm not sure if they can do anything to stop it."

Stephen Jones, Gareth Thomas and Shane Williams are targets for French clubs.

Moffett has fears about what the financial domination of France and England in the northern hemisphere will do to the game. "It could end up like football's Premiership, where only two or three teams can compete," he said.

"It's not just Wales. If France target, say, Brian O'Driscoll they'll get him because they have the financial muscle.

"They don't have any salary caps and seem to be a law unto themselves. Ultimately it will affect the world game. England and France are cash rich and real rugby powerhouses, but it won't do them much good if they have no-one to play."

Llanelli Scarlets chief executive Stuart Gallacher believes he is likely to lose outside-half Stephen Jones to English or French clubs. "He has been offered double his current salary by teams from both those countries, and we simply can't compete," Gallacher said.

And he said Gareth Thomas was tempted by the idea of playing for a team like Toulouse.

AFP - 2004.