Catastrophic European campaign could usher in end of Welsh Regional Rugby as we know it
It has been a busy few weeks at the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) where plans to reinvigorate the regional game continue apace.
On Friday it was announced that former Wales captain Ryan Jones had been appointed performance director at the union – effectively swapping jobs with Geraint John, who has assumed responsibility for the community game.
In his new job, Jones will sit on the Professional Rugby Board (PRB) which is the body charged with implementing ‘Project Reset’, the WRU’s bid to make professional rugby in Wales more competitive.
At a time when the national team is flying, on a nine-game unbeaten run heading into the Six Nations, the regions that sit beneath it are in need of a reboot.
For the first time in five years there will be no Welsh representative in the last eight of either the Champions or Challenge Cup, while attendances have been disappointing amid growing apathy towards the PRO14.
Continue reading below…
‘Project Reset’ is therefore the WRU’s chance to hit Ctrl+Alt+Del but although a new Professional Rugby Agreement (PRA) was agreed in December, and the PRB met twice a fortnight ago, details of the future funding model have not been made public.
Under the new agreement, a banding system will be brought in to curb player wage inflation with National Dual Contracts (NDCs) phased out but it remains unclear how the four regions will be funded.
The ongoing discussions – the PRB will meet again at the beginning of February – are the most important for professional rugby in Wales since the regions were introduced in 2003.
There are those who would like the WRU to rip up the current system and start again, potentially with just two teams remaining.
But given the four regional chairmen sit on the PRB, and that WRU CEO Martyn Phillips stated in September that “the purpose of the project is to implement a strategy whereby the five professional entities (Wales and the four regions) work together” it seems unlikely that any will be sacrificed.
It would seem more probable that an incentive-based funding model will be introduced, rewarding the regions for their performance on and off the pitch.
Maintaining four regions is an attractive option for the WRU as it ensures a sufficient player pool is available for the Wales head coach to pick from.
Dragons back-row Aaron Wainwright is a current case in point. The 21-year-old is only in his second season as a professional but looks set to play an important role for Wales in the Six Nations having made his Test debut in November.
Wainwright’s rapid rise would not have been possible without the opportunity he was given to play for the Dragons at the start of last season. Were there only two professional teams in Wales it is unlikely his chance, in an extremely competitive position, would have arrived so swiftly.
Cutting down the number of teams means narrowing the player pool available to the national team head coach, something that the WRU would be loathe do to.
But, if it looks as though the four regions are here to stay, is there enough money to go around?
A look at the WRU’s most recent accounts show that £20.5 million was shared between the Cardiff Blues, Ospreys and Scarlets while £6m was given to the Dragons following its takeover by the union.
That represented a record amount put into the four regions but the cost of success continues to soar and the regions’ budgets are dwarfed by those in England, France and Ireland.
In 2016-17, when the Scarlets won the PRO12 title the region lost £603,817. That season, the West Walians’ expenditure was £11.04m, which is around £1.5m less than Bristol spent during their last campaign in the RFU Championship.
If the regions are to become more competitive in both the PRO14 and Europe, then they will need added investment from the WRU and elsewhere, with Scarlets chairman Nigel Short telling a supporters’ event that collective commercial and sponsorship deals could be an option.
However, 2017-18 was a bumper year for the WRU accounts, in part because the Principality Stadium hosted a series of Ed Sheeran concerts, and there is not likely to be too much of an increase in funding from the union.
So, whichever way it is dressed up, the regions will be divvying up around £28m between themselves at a time when Gallagher Premiership clubs are regularly spending £20m a season.
Significant commercial investment becomes integral in that scenario but it is something the regions have struggled to attract in recent times.
The Dragons had hoped to swell their coffers with the redevelopment of the north end of Rodney Parade, but Short suggested that any proceeds from the WRU-owned ground would be split between all four regions.
That would be a huge for Dragons chairman David Buttress as he attempts to drive revenue streams that would stop the region becoming a de facto development team in a ‘three-plus-one’ funding model.
The cost of success will increase yet further in the light of the Premiership’s partnership with CVC and without a similar windfall for the PRO14, it is difficult to envisage how the Welsh regions will keep pace.
Comments on RugbyPass
Except for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to comments