Wales are likely to be without their English-based players for the Test against New Zealand next autumn. The 5 November date is not an official international weekend and Premier Rugby Limited, the English clubs' body, says it will not release players.
That would rule out Newcastle flanker Colin Charvis and Gloucester hooker Mefin Davies from the All Blacks match.
The likelihood is that the French clubs will follow suit, depriving Wales of Gareth Thomas and Stephen Jones.
Phil Winstanley, rugby manager for Premier Rugby Limited, told BBC Wales: "Clearly the match is outside the International Rugby Board's release period.
"As far as I'm concerned, Premier Rugby won't be releasing its players outside of this window.
"We need to retain the integrity of the Premiership competition and therefore that must take precedence at this time."
When the Welsh Rugby Union announced the New Zealand fixture earlier on Wednesday, chief executive David Moffett was optimistic that Wales' exile players would be released to play.
"We're confident we'll be able to get the players... it is such an important occasion for Welsh rugby, as it's 100 years since the first match against New Zealand," Moffett said.
However, it now appears that Moffett may have underestimated the goodwill of the clubs towards the centenary match.
"I'm not aware that David has spoken to Premier Rugby on this issue - he certainly hasn't spoken to me," Winstanley added.
"The position could change, but I would think that is unlikely at the moment."
The match at the Millennium Stadium will commemorate the first match between Wales and New Zealand in 1905, plus Cardiff's centenary and the WRU's 125th anniversary.
The All Blacks fixture adds to already arranged games against South Africa, Australia and Fiji which do fall within the IRB window, allowing Wales to invoke Regulation 9 requiring clubs to release players for international duty.
Davies will be 33 by next November and Charvis 32, so it is possible that neither will be guaranteed a regular Wales spot by then.
 Wales could be deprived the services of skipper Gareth Thomas |
More damaging would be if Toulouse withhold Wales skipper Thomas and Clermont-Auvergne keep fly-half Jones.
New Zealand will play all four home nations, the first full tour since 1978, and had wanted to face Wales on 3 December.
But Moffett and NZRFU opposite number Chris Moller sat down for a long negotiation over the match date, before eventually settling on Guy Fawkes Night - a good omen for an explosive match.
"There was a lot of tooing-and-froing, but it's settled and it's going to be mouth-watering," Moffett added.
"We know we'll be playing the Tri-Nations champions because we're playing all three [New Zealand, Australia and South Africa] of them - but to have New Zealand specifically is fantastic."
Moller was equally enthusiastic: "The match-up between the All Blacks and Wales is not only a celebration of that famous match 100 years ago.
"It is also a re-match of last year's stirring Test between the two countries, and creates the possibility of a Grand Slam attempt by the All Blacks."
Because the match against Wales falls only two weeks after the National Provincial Championship final, there were issues of player welfare and workload.
But it was felt that the opportunity of a Grand Slam tour in the same year as the series against the British and Irish Lions was something not to be passed up.
MMIX
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It's settled and it's going to be mouth-watering
