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To this day it is unclear who first coined the phrase Gatland's Law as a label for Welsh rugby's supposed policy of favouring home based players in 50-50 national team selection decisions.

Most likely it was used flippantly at first by some unsuspecting pundit, picked up as a neat label by a few others and before long there it was, firmly ingrained in the consciousness of every Tom, Dick with an interest in the sport here.

As it turned out, the solemn decree of early 2008 from Warren Gatland and WRU chief executive Roger Lewis has never been worth the paper it was written on – if it ever was written down that is.

The flood of top Welsh stars overseas has consistently forced Gatland to pick players plying their trade beyond these borders, the economic realities of our game powerless to change that.

But for all its apparent irrelevance, Gatland's Law has never gone away, and Thursday's peace deal appeared, if anything, to breath new life into it.

In the new document we were told, once again, that those Welshmen who decide from now on to play on foreign fields may not get the chance to play Test rugby, with the extra bargaining power of the ground-breaking dual contract arrangement seemingly allowing the WRU to be more stringent than ever in enforcing that.

Don't, however, expect much to change for the time being.

The Gatland's Law branding for this policy was never more apt. If the New Zealander wants a certain individual to play for Wales badly enough then he can pick him regardless, exercising his right to override the rule 'in exceptional circumstances'.

On the flip side though, Gatland now has an official mandate to discard anyone leaving Wales who he feels his squad can probably afford to be without, and in the process send out a hard-line message.

Gallery: The players reportedly in line for dual contracts

In short, he can massage this according to what he sees as being in Wales' best interests, he doesn't need to wear any selection straitjacket or be bothered about justifying his choices.

Up to now, there has been safety in numbers for Welsh players who have chosen to move away.

Most will have left in the knowledge that their immediate Test futures are secure, that they are part of a nucleus Gatland could never afford to be without.

On that front, Gatland's predicament has contrasted sharply with that of his counterpart the other side of the Severn Bridge, Stuart Lancaster.

The RFU has been far more inflexible with its equivalent policy, but in the last year or so the England coach has probably only rued the unavailability of Toulon flanker Steffan Armitage.

There is now talk of Wales' foreign legion returning for the carrot of dual contracts, and if they really can obtain their market value on home soil then there is obvious appeal.

But it's what happens if George North, Jonathan Davies and Leigh Halfpenny decide further down the track that they are enjoying life too much and earning enough money at Northampton, Clermont and Toulon respectively to come home and play again for a Welsh region that will be interesting.

If you are a player and you are abroad, are you exempt until you come home, if indeed you do? Or is it only until your current contract expires?

Say North, Davies and Halfpenny sign fresh deals with their current clubs, would Gatland then need to unearth 'exceptional circumstances' to keep them involved?

For all the trumpeting of the dual contract revolution, much focus will be on exactly how that element of the peace accord plays out.

(Image: Action Images / Andrew Boyers)

Understandably, Lewis played the diplomat on Thursday, talking about fair discussions between players, the Regions and the WRU in terms of deciding salaries. He also spoke of a will to place players at their region of origin.

All fine in theory, but when you factor in the inevitable involvement of those dreaded agents, and what's happened in the past year, you do wonder how seamless all this can possibly be.

Dual contracts are clearly a good thing for Welsh rugby if they help keep our best talent here, but other concerns and unanswered questions around them remain.

At present the WRU says it can only afford to consider awarding them to between 10 and 15 players, but longer term they should be looking to double that number so that when the Wales squad meets, players can feel they are more or less on a level playing field.

Until that happens, will those not given dual contracts resent those who have? Will dual contracts become the benchmark for performance at Test level in the way Lottery funding is for athletes who are punished for fallow periods by having their money withdrawn?

For example, among the names being bandied about as being in line for these new deals, nowhere do you see Justin Tipuric or Rhys Priestland.

Do those two, then, already privately feel they are not central to Gatland's future plans? Only they can answer that.

Whatever, dual contracts and Gatland's Law are going to be inextricably linked moving forward, and one man is going to be calling all the important shots. No wonder the WRU wanted him to commit until 2019.

Has there ever been a more powerful Wales coach? There were times Graham Henry appeared to be the master of all he surveyed, but when you stripped away the aura that once surrounded him he never had his hands on levers of this significance in our game.

Gatland's Law? From now on it's more a case of Gatland IS the law.