Charteris cleared to face Wallabies

This is a major step forward for us

Wales interim head coach Rob Howley on Monday confirmed an agreement has been reached with French club Perpignan for the release of lock Luke Charteris for their clash with Australia at the Millennium Stadium on December 1.

The compromise will see Charteris miss Wales' Test against Argentina on November 10 and will instead be available to his club on that day.

"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 Howley.

"This is a major step forward for us and shows that our trip out to France to talk face to face with the clubs has paid dividends."

Howley travelled to France alongside head coach Warren Gatland last month to begin discussions about the release of Wales' overseas contingent and he sees no reason why future agreements cannot be put in place.

"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.

There is no indication whether a similar deal has been struck with Charteris'  Perpignan team mate James Hook.