In a press conference at the Principality Stadium on Friday afternoon, the Welsh Rugby Union outlined its plan to cut the number of professional men’s sides in Wales from four to three.
The Union intends to move to three teams by 2028 at the latest. The four current regions —Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys, and Scarlets — will remain in the short term, but in the not-too-distant future, there will be one team in the west, one in the east, and one in the capital.
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In fact, this is totally different to the WRU’s ditched two-team model, which was brought to light at the last major press conference at the Stadium. It’s certainly not been the prettiest of consultation periods for the WRU, with Director of Rugby, Dave Reddin, attending all 31 meetings face-to-face with key stakeholders in the game throughout September.
Voices were heard, and the Welsh Rugby public also had their say, with 7,000 respondents to the public engagement. But on what was a rather damp and gloomy day in the Welsh capital, it perfectly summed up Welsh Rugby at this current moment.
Why, you ask? When you hear one team in West Wales, that would suggest it’s either between the Ospreys and Scarlets, but the Chair of the WRU Board, Richard Collier-Keywood, suggested that’s not the case.
“That’s not what we’re saying at all,” added Collier-Keywood, who led Friday afternoon’s press conference.
“We’ve given the geography of where we expect new licenses. We own Cardiff, but we don’t intend to keep it. There are opportunities.
“There will only be one club in the west, but the clubs can apply. One of them may make a bid for Cardiff or merge. We’ve already had several parties in Cardiff.”
With the intention of reducing the number of teams clear, but which ones were not made clear at this time; another critical point that was made was the amount of funding the three teams would receive.
To put it simply, all three will be equally funded, starting at £6.4 million and rising to £7.8 million per annum. This is based on identifying the need to concentrate talent in Wales and secure financial stability in the future.
However, only a matter of weeks ago, the proposed “optimal solution” was to reduce the number of professional sides to two, instead of the now three. Both Collier-Keywood and Reddin were challenged about this and whether their positions within the WRU are now tenable.
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“Definitely,” insisted Collier-Keywood.
“I don’t accept it’s a mess at all. We went out with a consultation that had radical proposals; it was good to have a debate. That’s absolutely necessary if we’re going to make change.
“We’re going to take people with us in that change. I have fun in this job every day. I serve at the pleasure of the clubs.”
Reddin added: “Absolutely (my role is tenable).
“The two-club model was predicated on the budget at the time. The Union looked really hard at finances.
“When you look at the level of investment, I’m massively excited about that. I don’t see a mess at all.”
The three-club model could come into play in 2028, when the WRU’s contractual agreement with the United Rugby Championship (URC) expires, with the WRU providing four teams to the league. This could happen quicker. With the Ospreys and Scarlets having legal agreements with the WRU until 2027, while both East Wales sides, Cardiff and Dragons, have it until 2028.
Only time will tell what will happen with the four sides. Will there be a merger? Will one of the clubs buy Cardiff? Who knows what will happen as Wales head into a crucial Autumn International period under new boss Steve Tandy, still with more questions than answers.
