Wales have withdrawn a dual contract offer to the Newport Gwent Dragons and Lions No8 Taulupe Faletau after the Bath target missed a deadline to sign. The 24-year-old has a year left on his regional contract and will be free to talk to potential employers at the end of the year.

The Wales head coach, Warren Gatland, said the offer had been taken off the table reluctantly and could be made again next season, but Faletau looks set to join his fellow Lions George North, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies, Richard Hibbard and Leigh Halfpenny in earning his living outside the country.

“It is disappointing that he did not sign the national dual contract, but there has been interest in him from other clubs in the UK,” said Gatland. “That is not to say there will not be a contract offer to him next season and having a deadline for players to sign has put me in a difficult position. To have gone back on that when others had signed would not have been fair and we could not make an exception.”

Roberts will leave Racing Métro at the end of the season and while his former region, Cardiff Blues, and Ospreys both made the centre an offer, he is joining Harlequins. Since starting the dual contract system last year, Wales’s policy has been to look favourably in selection on home-based players but Roberts, a key player for Gatland, will not be ostracised for turning down an offer from Wales to move to England.

“England have a hard-and-fast rule over players who are based outside the country, but we do not,” said Gatland. “The ideal for me is players playing in Wales and it’s important we work closely with the regions to make them as successful as possible. That will encourage players in Wales to stay and those outside to come back. The long-term goal is to pick players who are playing in Wales.”