One Welsh region to be cut: what does it mean for your team?

Local TV

We now know that the WRU have plans to cut one of the four regions in Welsh club rugby. What exactly this means in practise is up for debate: it could be a merger, or one could get cut entirely. We’re exploring which ones are on the chopping block, and how we got to this situation.

Transcript

00:00How did Welsh Rugby get to where we are now? Off-field issues, with accusations of bullying

00:07and sexism, to some of the worst on-field performances we've ever seen, with an entire

00:12calendar year without a win in 2024, and now the four professional teams in the country

00:17are soon set to turn into three. There have been some flashes of excellence among the

00:22four regions in the past. Scarlet, Ospreys and Cardiff have all won domestic cups through

00:26the years, and Cardiff have twice won the European Challenge Cup, but generally speaking, they've

00:31not been on the same level as in other countries, like where the Irish domestic teams are constant

00:36powerhouses, the English top flight is one of the best in the world. So the decision to

00:41cut one of the Welsh teams and split resources between the remaining three does make sense

00:45to some extent, but it's massively controversial. The four teams all have their reasons for being

00:52kept alive, from the success on the pitch of Cardiff, the Scarlets and Ospreys, to the

00:56historic amateur feeder teams in Newport with the Dragons, but it seems like the writing might

01:01be on the wall. The decision has been met with criticism, but the Welsh Rugby Union says they've

01:06opened dialogue with stakeholders, and if we look back to August, they said a number of options

01:10were on the table.

01:11We are going through this process of consultation in September. Dave has said very clearly that

01:18we want to listen to people's views on this, and we do, and the board will make a decision on the

01:25future, having gone through the consultation process at some point during October.

01:32The most recent comments from the WIU basically paint a picture that they know which teams will

01:36stay, so it's a matter of putting two and two together to see who might face the chopping block.

01:42They've said rugby in the capital should remain, so Cardiff are in, historic ties to teams like

01:46Pontypool for the Dragons and comments of rugby in the East needing to remain mean they're probably

01:51safe too. So it's between the Ospreys and Scarlets who will remain, and that could be

01:56anyone's guess how they approach it.

01:59Current Wales captain Jack Morgan certainly knows where his allegiances lie for who should

02:03stay in the West. Both teams would argue they have the right to stay, they've both got arguments

02:07for being the most successful teams over the past few decades, so will it be a merger or one being cut?

02:13Who knows?

02:15I love the Ospreys. I love playing, I love the boys, the coaches, everyone, and

02:23you know, with regards to that, the news only came out on Friday, so the main focus for myself now is

02:30this campaign, and we'll see how everything else goes.

02:33I think it's ever a good time for decisions to be made. I think no matter when it gets announced,

02:40there'll always be someone or something that will be probably criticised or whatever, but for me,

02:46at the end of the day, we've spoken to the boys, and the fact that I've still been excited to get the

02:51group in, so for me, the focus is on the all-time. I was, like I said, I've had lots of conversation with the players.

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