BOSS Dai Flanagan has vowed that the Dragons will honour verbal offers made to the players if they suffer injury while waiting for deals to be rubber-stamped.

Professional rugby remains in a recruitment freeze while a deal is thrashed out between the Rodney Parade club, Cardiff, Scarlets, Ospreys and the Welsh Rugby Union.

The Dragons, who will return to private ownership from the WRU as a requirement of the new six-year funding arrangement, have been offering verbal deals to players but are unable to give concrete offers.

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The squad are currently preparing to face Leinster in the United Rugby Championship on Saturday evening when a number of players will take to the field with contracts that are nearing an end.

Flanagan has tried to reassure his players they won’t be left high and dry.

South Wales Argus:

“I am very transparent with the players, I haven't sugar coated anything about where the game is at financially in Wales,” he said.

“It's not nice to hear but we have been open and honest, we have offered a lot of verbal contracts and players know they are valued here if they choose to stay.

“I do know one stress on players is injury. They are playing without contracts, and I have told them we will honour that now that they have had verbal contract.

“That's the right thing to do, we can't offer a verbal contract, then suddenly go 'by the way, we are going to take the money off you because of an injury picked up representing our region'.

“I couldn’t live with myself if something like that was even an option.”

Dragons captain Will Rowlands has already announced his departure with a big-money move to Racing 92 likely to be confirmed soon.

A number of other leading figures – including the likes of Ross Moriarty, Elliot Dee, Ollie Griffiths, Jack Dixon, Ashton Hewitt, Sam Davies, Lloyd Fairbrother – are out of contract.

Wage cuts are a reality for players in Wales and options are restricted by English clubs feeling the pinch.

“I only one I am aware that we have lost is Will Rowlands. Some players have had to take some bad news about not being here next year,” said Flanagan, who works with head of recruitment Rob Burgess.

“We’ve verbally offered quite a few contracts and put values on it. It is important we give them time, we don’t want to rush them into decisions because that is not fair.

“We have offered to 90 per cent of the players we know we want to keep and they had offers on the same day.

“As much as I try to be as honest as I can and fair to the group, until it is actually signed people are on edge.

“All I can ask for is trust. We’ve delivered it as honestly and as best as we can.”