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A backdrop of off-field chaos isn’t essentially the best way by which one would want to embark upon a Six Nations marketing campaign, however it’s one nonetheless with which Welsh rugby is more and more acquainted. Whereas Steve Tandy spent a lot of Monday finalising a squad for the match that he hopes can finish a three-year watch for a win, those that sit above the Wales head coach held a board assembly at which the chief introduced their chosen choice in reshaping the elite home sport.
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The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has now entered right into a “interval of exclusivity” with its most well-liked bidder for Cardiff, which has been underneath union management since getting into administration in April 2025. The id of that bidder is believed to be Y11 Sport & Media – an funding agency that owns the Ospreys.
No deal has but been signed, however the path of journey would seem clear. Final 12 months, the WRU proposed slicing one of many 4 males’s skilled sides, expressing a desire for a group primarily based within the east (the Dragons in Newport), the capital (Cardiff) and west of the nation. That appeared to depart the Scarlets, primarily based in Llanelli, and the Ospreys, who’re set to redevelop the St Helen’s floor in Swansea later this 12 months, as weak.
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For supporters and stakeholders of the Ospreys, experiences of Y11’s attainable buy of Cardiff have understandably prompted angst. Probably the most profitable of the 4 remaining sides shaped within the regionalisation course of in 2003, uncertainty over their floor after leaving the Swansea.com Stadium – previously shared with Swansea Metropolis – has maybe prompted destabilisation. Whereas geographically near Llanelli, if the Ospreys are to go, it might take skilled rugby out of the nation’s second-largest metropolis.
The WRU’s view is that fielding three equally funded groups is the optimum technique for each on-field efficiency and off-field sustainability, having consulted with gamers, coaches, followers and stakeholders over a proposal to drop to only two sides. Its plans have, nonetheless, prompted uproar, with Central Glamorgan Rugby Union making an attempt to pressure a rare normal assembly (EGM) and maintain a vote of no confidence in Richard Collier-Keywood, the WRU chair. Whereas most in Wales agree that one thing have to be performed to handle an ailing rugby nation, discovering compromise and harmony more and more seems not possible.
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The WRU will anticipate but extra resistance to its proposals. Collier-Keywood and Abi Tierney, the chief govt, will seem in entrance of the Welsh affairs choose committee in Westminster on Wednesday, whereas Dave Reddin, WRU director of rugby, has been a key driving pressure within the plans as he makes an attempt to reshape the skilled system to, in his phrases, “create one that’s authentically Welsh”.
Settlement continues to be to be reached with the United Rugby Championship (URC) in regards to the mechanisms and timing for withdrawal for one of many groups. Collier-Keywood has beforehand steered that the WRU may enter a semi-professional aspect from Tremendous Rygbi Cymru, which sits beneath the URC, though that may trigger apparent points and is considered unlikely. The three Welsh groups are dedicated to the competitors till 2028, and can proceed to play alongside the 4 Irish, 4 South African, two Scottish and two Italian golf equipment that comprise the league.
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The URC has explored a attainable enlargement into america however met resistance from South Africa, which provides 4 golf equipment to the cross-continent league, whereas exploratory discussions with English golf equipment like Ealing and London Irish are unlikely to progress with the Rugby Soccer Union (RFU) agency in its place that it’s going to not enable golf equipment to play in abroad competitions.
RugbyPass experiences that the Black Lion membership in Georgia, common opponents within the EPCR Problem Cup, is now being checked out as an choice, though there could possibly be logistical and political points with enlargement into Tbilisi. An Anglo-Welsh league, lengthy mooted and mentioned by varied hierarchies behind closed doorways, isn’t but considered on the desk, with Prem Rugby dedicated to its personal plans for the longer term, that are more likely to embrace a franchising mannequin.
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Once more, although, the doubts inside Wales are creating strain on a participant base already struggling to match their Six Nations rivals. Ospreys duo, and common Welsh captains, Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake, have each elected to cross the Severn and signal for Gloucester subsequent season, whereas again rower Aaron Wainwright has signed for Leicester Tigers from the Dragons. Fly-half Dan Edwards checked out one stage like he might also be sure for Welford Highway, solely to resume with the Ospreys, and proficient No 8 Morgan Morse has performed likewise. Edwards and Lake had been two of seven inclusions in Tandy’s Six Nations squad from the Ospreys – what the longer term could maintain for them, and all the different workers, now seems solely unsure.
