The WRU’s plan to cut the number of professional teams in Wales from four to three has been met with a mixed reaction
Jones says ‘a lot of time has been wasted’ after the WRU put forward its plans on Friday(Image: BBC)
Wales rugby legends Alun Wyn Jones and Jonathan ‘Fox’ Davies have hit out at the Welsh Rugby Union after the governing body announced plans to cut the number of professional teams from four to three by 2027.
After previously putting forward a reduction to two teams as their preferred option, another seismic day in Welsh rugby on Friday saw the union opt to initially keep all four regions in the short term but cut one “as soon as possible” and potentially by next season.
The WRU laid out plans to have three equally funded teams from that point onwards, with one side based in the east, one in the west and another in Cardiff. While the union hope that a consensus can be reached between the current regions on how that will look, it has said it will open a tender process for the three available licences.
The proposals have been met with a mixed reaction, with Cardiff “relieved” and Dragons “encouraged” by the plans, which have provided assurances that elite rugby will remain within their respective regions. However, while WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood has denied that the union is pitting the Ospreys and Scarlets against each other, plans for one club in the west have naturally set alarm bells ringing for supporters of the two clubs.
Giving their take on the proposals, former Wales internationals Jones and Davies have hit out at the union for how they have handled the situation, accusing them of “not looking after” the players and coaches at the centre of these decisions, as well as providing a lack of transparency and instead “spinning words to suit the narrative they want”.
Discussing the “unfair” process on BBC Scrum V, Scarlets legend Davies said: “It feels as though Scarlets and Ospreys have been left to fight things out between themselves. That doesn’t feel a fair process.
“I get that Cardiff is the capital with the biggest population but should it come down to performance. The process began with talk about elite performance and Wales’ two most successful regions so far have been Scarlets and Ospreys, but they’ve been told today that only one is going to last.”
WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood has denied that the union is pitting the Ospreys and Scarlets against each other(Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency)
On the WRU’s plans to open a tender process if no consensus is reached, he added: “It’s not an attractive prospect for any investor to only have control of commercial interests at any of these regions. Why would they put their money in if another source is making decisions?
“All this talk of licences makes it sounds like sport in America, where franchises move cities. But you’re not going to get Scarlets applying for the east licence because that’s not where the fans are from.
“It feels they are spinning words to suit the narrative they want. If you’re going to have an east region then they’re effectively going to be called the Dragons, so why not just say that? They’re almost denying it and that’s the lack of transparency we’re seeing.”
Meanwhile, former Wales skipper Jones said a “lot of time has been wasted” in the lead-up to Friday’s announcement, which has been detrimental to players, coaches and those who work at the regions.
“The outlook is probably what was expected,” he said. “Everyone said there needs to be change but the disappointing thing is that this is just the end of the start. We’ve had two years of unknowing.
“Richard Collier-Keywood spoke about a “clear plan” but had we had one of those earlier then we wouldn’t have been in this position. It would have been something players, coaches and everyone at regions would have wanted a long time ago. A lot of time has been wasted.
“A lot more could have been done to help regions perform better and for players to perform better,” Jones added. “It hasn’t been fair on the players with the jeopardy that has been hanging over their careers. We have not looked after those people and it hasn’t been fair.”
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