Does it really serve Welsh rugby well having its best players based in England?

Where Wales' best players should be playing their rugby has never been a more pertinent question.

Of the 39 players named in Wales' squad for the November Nations Championship, 15 are contracted to clubs outside the country, 14 of them in the Gallagher Premiership.

There is a compelling argument that this is to Wales' benefit. Playing week in, week out at a higher level of competition can sharpen a player's game, while stepping outside the familiar surroundings of Welsh rugby can broaden their experience and accelerate their development.

Aaron Wainwright, for example, should benefit from testing himself in an environment like Leicester Tigers.

"We'd love everyone in Wales," Wales head coach Steve Tandy told ITV this week.

"There's more alignment and you can have more contact time but also we can still get out.

"The clubs are very hospitable when you go and see those players. A lot of them are not too far away, whether it be in Gloucester or Bath.

"Going into different environments there's different stimulus. I think you learn different things and different ways.

"It might not always be something you want to take but it does challenge you.

"There's an excitement, even for myself when I went away to Australia.

"You learn lots of different things. I think that just opens up your mind and we get better players from it."

But are Welsh players better served playing in Wales or across the Severn Bridge?

Wales coaches, whether it be Warren Gatland, Wayne Pivac or Matt Sherratt, have historically voiced their frustration at the difficulty of accessing players based outside the country, particularly during the Six Nations.

That is less of an issue during the autumn, with the introduction of the Nations Championship meaning all four of this month's Tests fall within World Rugby's designated international window.

The Six Nations presents a different challenge. Players based outside Wales will miss much of the fortnight-long training camp ahead of the championship.

They also return to their clubs during the fallow weekend and when they are not selected in a matchday squad.

There are legitimate arguments on both sides, but ultimately Welsh rugby would be better served in the long term if the majority of its international players were based at one of the four professional clubs, soon to be three.

Exeter Chiefs lock Dafydd Jenkins made the case for playing in England a few weeks ago, pointing to the standard of the Gallagher Prem and the opportunities it creates for younger Welsh players to establish themselves at the regions when senior internationals move on.

There is undoubtedly merit in that argument. But the Welsh Rugby Union's responsibility should extend beyond simply serving the men's national team, however important that side is to the game's finances.

Welsh rugby cannot exist purely as a production line for the national team. It needs strong, sustainable professional sides capable of attracting supporters, developing talent and competing for honours in their own right.

There is an obvious benefit to having emerging players training and playing alongside established internationals such as Morgan, Lake, Wainwright and Jenkins.

Their presence brings not only quality on the field but experience, higher standards and a benchmark for the next generation to aspire to.

The ambition should be to make Wales' professional teams competitive enough to challenge for play-off places season after season.

That means finding a way to retain the country's best players rather than watching them seek opportunities elsewhere.

It will not come cheaply. Significant investment is required to build professional sides capable of keeping their leading talent and competing consistently at the top end of their respective competitions.

Welsh rugby should not simply be asking its best players to stay at home; it must give them professional teams ambitious and competitive enough to make staying an attractive proposition.

That should be at the heart of the WRU's strategy.