'It's unfortunate it's been leaked' - Welsh axe fears addressed in TV interview
Welsh Rugby Union performance director Nigel Walker has heavily hinted that none of the country’s four regions will be cut.
A leaked independent report made a recommendation to the WRU that they cut the regions from four to three, with the Dragons or the Ospreys the most likely get the chop. The Oakwell Sports Advisory advised the move, but Walker has said that it is a recommendation that ‘nobody wants’.
Walker appeared on the Scrum V over the weekend and took questions on the Wayne Pivac’s floundering Wales and was asked were the Welsh regions in ‘crisis’ after one of the worst seasons since their inception.
Even by the standards of what has been an abject campaign for the Welsh, this weekend’s results have made for hard viewing. The Dragons signed off by going an entire league campaign without a home win, while Cardiff conceded 10 tries thanks to a hammering at the hands of Benetton. The Scarlets and the Ospreys both lost at home.
Not one region made the last eight of the United Rugby Championship.
“That’s one way of putting it. I wouldn’t characterise it in that way,” Walker told the Scrum V panel. “Yes, we have some challenges to overcome, but they are not peculiar to Welsh rugby. France have had to go through a difficult period, England are going through a difficult period at the moment.
Welsh Rugby Union performance director Nigel Walker says: “Nobody wants the regions to go from 4 to 3, not the regions, not the WRU” ?
? BBC Two Wales https://t.co/wtfq1XnKMY pic.twitter.com/yukatx7yrI
— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) May 22, 2022
“There needs to be a correction. We need to work together. The PRB, which is charged with setting the strategy, charting the direction of travel for the professional game in Wales, is talking about those things.
“The one option which has been mentioned is four (regions) to three, nobody in Welsh rugby wants to go from four to three. The regions don’t want it, the WRU don’t want it.
“It was an independent report commissioned by the PRB. Some might say it’s semantics, but it’s not a WRU report. It came up with a whole raft of options, of which one has been selected. It’s 85 pages long! It was commissioned early in the new year, it was delivered in February. The regions and WRU have been talking about it for quite a few months.”
The 59-year-old Walker took up the post of performance director after 11 years as national director at the English Institute of Sport. He believes an agreement will need to be made in the next number of months as to how the PRB proceeds.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s been leaked, but now it’s in the public domain, people know we are considering these things very carefully.
"We need our regions to be successful and the WRU recognises they need to be else the national team won't be successful" ?
? BBC Two Wales https://t.co/wtfq1XnKMY pic.twitter.com/4Zq0ZXX6nE
— BBC ScrumV (@BBCScrumV) May 22, 2022
“The important thing is that the PRB statement, after the recent meeting, said sustainability and success. That’s what everybody is concentrating on. We have to have agreement in weeks rather than months, that would be my view.
“The discussion we are having is, what does success look like for regional rugby? We need our regions to be successful and the WRU recognises we need our regions to be successful otherwise the national team won’t be successful.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Are the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
2 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
2 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to comments