On Tuesday night, the news broke that Bristol Bears will play a home Premiership game at the Principality Stadium on the 10^th of May 2025.

It was something which had been rumoured last season, in and amongst the mess which was a Wales v Barbarians clash on the same day as Scarlets hosted Cardiff in a Welsh derby.

Bristol’s opposition is yet to be decided for the first ever English Premiership match held in Cardiff.

Speaking on this week’s Sportin Wales podcast, Daily Mail journalist Alex Bywater offered the Welsh and Bristol viewpoints of the decision.

“There’s two different strands to it really,” said Bywater.

“If you look at it from a Bristol perspective, it’s a really exciting prospect. They can take their home games to a much bigger stadium and bigger audience to grow their brand.

“But the flip side is what does that mean for Welsh rugby? The short term is the Welsh Rugby Union will get a fee which we don’t know.

“The wider issue is that the Welsh regions might lose fans who go to watch the Bristol Bears game and from then on they go to watch Bristol at Ashton Gate rather than go to the Arms Park, Rodney Parade or to Ospreys and Scarlets.

“I think that’s a real and genuine concern for some people. I think there’s a debate to be had around taking the money for the game which Welsh rugby needs at the moment, against the long-term thinking in terms of the implications it could have.”

Anglo-Welsh Connotations

One of the most bizarre elements of the situation is that on the same weekend Bristol play the role of hosts at the Principality Stadium, all four Welsh regions are playing the first of two consecutive games in South Africa.

The travel involved in the URC and wider European rugby has been criticised time and time again, with Sportin Wales co-founder Alex Cuthbert noting the risk it creates for players in his column in our May magazine.

Could this therefore be a soft launch, as the kids call it, for a possible future Anglo-Welsh league?

Regular Anglo-Welsh competition has been at a premium since the Anglo-Welsh Cup was ended in 2018, the year where all four Welsh regions finished on the bottom of their pools.

In its heyday, the finals attracted attendances between 40-65,000 at Twickenham with Scarlets in the final in the first year before consecutive Leicester Tigers v Ospreys finals were shared and then Cardiff’s brilliant win against Gloucester in 2009.

In recent years, those matches have been restricted to Europe and wins for Welsh sides have been at a premium.

Ospreys’ memorable wins at Leicester in January of 2023 and Sale at the Brewery Field last season are two standouts, but it is perhaps Cardiff who’ve seen the biggest rewards.

Their home games against Harlequins and Bath saw sell out crowds and brilliant atmospheres, benefitting particularly from the proximity of the West Country club and an historic rivalry.

The prospect of more fixtures like that is something former Wales and Cardiff forward Josh Turnbull would like to see.

“Bristol are trying to attract a different audience, it’s like Ospreys going to play in London,” said Turnbull.

“I just look at what Cardiff did, selling out the Arms Park on a number of occasions. Bath and Harlequins last year, Sale the year before, I don’t know how many time the drum needs to be banged but an Anglo-Welsh league would be fantastic.

“Bring back those cross-border rivalries. The URC was exciting when it first started, travelling somewhere new, going to South Africa and playing against some of their best players.

“In terms of the travelling the novelty has worn off and I think it would be exciting to have an Anglo-Welsh league. It really would.”

The Reality of an Anglo-Welsh league

Following the collapse of Wasps, Worcester Warriors and London Irish there are now 10 teams in the Gallagher Premiership.

Those three sides going into administration emphasised the fragility of the position rugby finds itself in as it recovers post the pandemic and Wales is no different.

During their strategy announcement, the WRU and CEO Abi Tierney announced they faced a £35m funding gap spread over the next five years.

Therefore, unless a highly lucrative offer came on board, it is highly unlikely that the Welsh sides would leave the URC given the current financial situation.

That however won’t quieten the calls from fans who, like Bywater, see the Gallagher Premiership as a better “product…than what’s been shown in the URC.”

The thought of reigniting the old-standing rivalries will be a draw for several, in particular those who remember the rebel season of 1998-99 where Cardiff and Swansea turned their backs on the Welsh Premier Division opting instead to play friendlies against English Premiership clubs. 7

For the time being, it looks like a plan Welsh fans dream of, without it ever being a risk of coming into fruition.