Wales lock Luke Charteris will be available for the Wales clash against Australia in December after a deal was agreed with his club Perpignan.
A compromise had to be made with the French side as the December 1 fixture falls outside the official window for Test matches and clubs are not forced to release their players.
However, Welsh interim head coach Rob Howley flew out to France and arranged that 29-year-old Charteris will instead miss the November 10 clash against Argentina.
Charteris, who has 37 Welsh caps to his name, is expected to play a major role in Wales’ RBS Six Nations campaign in the New Year, with the Red Dragons looking to build on last year’s Grand Slam victory.
And Howley declared himself over the moon that he and coach Warren Gatland were able to secure the services of Charteris for the Australia clash.
“We are delighted to have come to an agreement with Perpignan which will allow Luke to be available to be considered for selection for the Wallabies game,” said the 42-year-old.
“This is a major step forward for us and shows that our trip out to France to talk face to face with the club has paid dividends.”
Following the successful discussions between the two parties, Howley – who played for Wales between 1996 and 2002 – hopes that future agreements can also be reached.
“We have reached a compromise which allows Perpignan to have Luke available to them when they need him most, and see no reason why we can’t build on this relationship in the future,” he added.
