The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has today laid out its plans for seismic changes in the Welsh rugby landscape, with a number of proposals for a restructuring of the professional game on the table.

The WRU’s review, led by chief executive Abi Tierney, chair Richard Collier-Keywood, and Director of Rugby and Elite Performance Dave Reddin, has set out four alternative ‘models’ for consultation:

• Model A, Four Professional clubs with unequal funding
• Model B, Three Professional clubs with equal funding
• Model C, Three Professional clubs with unequal funding
• Model D, Two Professional clubs with equal funding

The WRU says that it sees the ‘optimal’ system being ‘Model D+,’ with two entirely new clubs, each one made up of a men’s team and a women’s team.

The men’s team would comprise of 50 players, with a playing budget of around £7.8 million with ‘predominately Welsh-qualified talent’ and ‘only the highest standard’ of non-Welsh-qualified players.

By comparison, the women’s side would have a squad of 40 players, with a squad budget benchmarked to ‘compete with clubs in England’s Professional Women’s Rugby (PWR) league, which the WRU says is the best current women’s league.

With speculation rife in recent weeks over which of the current regions would be ‘cut,’ it has now been revealed that the WRU is proposing that all four would cease to exist from 2027.

The official consultation process will begin on September 1^st, running until the 29^th of the same month before recommendations are sent to the WRU board in mid-October.

The final decision on the way forward for Welsh rugby will be announced at the end of October.

As well as the two-club model, the WRU’s optimal system includes a departure from the current Professional Rugby Agreements (PRA) to a ‘unified structure of management’ that the Union says will ‘eliminate friction and accelerate focus on rugby performance.’

There will also be a new approach to funding, with the Union funding all rugby operations, and private investors delivering ‘profitable club companies’ through commercial licences.

“This is a genuine consultation process and while we have our own ideas based on the research we have done, we know the best solutions come from listening,” said Dave Reddin in a statement.

“The approach we have designed is respectful, thorough, and inclusive and we encourage people to challenge our ideas and help us create something that we can all get behind.”

The strategy, proposed in a 90-page document titled ‘The Future of Elite Rugby in Wales’, according to the WRU, is necessary due to a number of ‘inefficiencies’ in the current Welsh rugby system.

The proposal says that the current four professional regions – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys, and Scarlets – are not funded to a high enough level, and that male playing talent is spread too thinly over too many clubs.

It also claims that the gap between the semi-professional Super Rygbi Cymru and the regions is too wide and that the current structure does not deliver an ‘aligned’ approach.

Perhaps most damningly on the Union itself, is the admittance that all stakeholders in the Welsh rugby ecosystem have ‘collectively failed to collaborate’ on a solution.

One part of the proposal reads: “In small nation systems, the frictional elements of inefficient processes and decision-making between stakeholders are much more acutely felt, draining resources from all parties and distracting focus from performance.

“Recognition of this effect has led to the development of highly integrated models such as that in Ireland and to a lesser extent, New Zealand, which have been highly effective.”

Despite the Union’s desire to promote a ‘Wales-first’ system, it is clear that there is some borrowing of ideas from other nations. Scotland, for example, run two professional clubs – Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby – both of which have been successful in recent years, but there are concerns about the quantity of talent coming through the system.

The Ireland connection is murkier, as the IRFU works on a funding model that allocated unequal funding to each professional team, with Leinster receiving the most as it’s ‘central’ province.

As well as the on-pitch changes, the WRU have plans to build “world class” facilities as a “national campus.”

The campus would be home to both the men’s and women’s national teams and professional clubs, as well as the academies, talent pathways, and a “rugby performance innovation centre.”

Speaking as part of a press conference announcing the plans, Tierney said:

“What we want to do is create a future that fans are really proud of. There is the emotion of now but then then there is also the hope for the future.

“I hope that they feel hope for the future and that they will engage in what that looks like.”

The development of these seismic changes to Welsh rugby will be led by Dave Reddin who confirmed that all options are on the table and that no concrete decisions had been made as to the future of the regional game.

“I think that the consultation process is the right next step,” added Reddin.

“We have to have the people operating the clubs understanding the process. Owners and investors are invited to those meetings so that their views will be represented faithfully.

“We’re asking people to let go of the past and the present and imagine a completely different future, with the four regions involved in that process.”

What the rest of the stakeholders in Welsh rugby – the fans, players, regions, clubs, and commercial partners – think of these proposals, is yet to be determined.

What the WRU do face though is a difficult task is achieving the collaboration and alignment that they stress is so important to these next stages in the Welsh rugby journey.

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