How departing Wilson has presided over a sensational Blues revival

A WELSH university rugby team are fuming after being told they are ineligible for a WRU cup competition which have been taking part in for 46 years!

Cardiff University will not be able to take their place in Sunday’s WRU National Bowl final at the Principality Stadium, leaving them “sick to the stomach”.

It has been ruled they fielded ineligible players from higher divisions in the semi-final victory over Pembroke, who will now face Porthcawl in the final instead of them.

But the college maintain they had special dispensation to play any of their students in the competition.

An initial WRU hearing found in their favour, but then Pembroke appealed to a separate committee which overturned the original decision.

Now Cardiff University have been told they – and other college sides – shouldn’t have been in the event in the first place and won’t be able to enter it from next season.

That’s despite the fact that Cardiff students have been taking part in official WRU cup competitions since 1972.

A spokesperson today said: “Cardiff University Rugby Club was extremely disappointed to receive a letter advising that the club is not able to feature in the WRU National Bowl final at the Principality Stadium on Sunday, April 29.

“We dispute the decision and the reasons given.

“The University has written to the WRU seeking a response.

“The University rugby club was invited by the WRU to compete in the competition again this year.

“Only upon reaching the final have we been informed that we, along with all other universities who competed, were ineligible to do so.

“The University rugby club has competed for over 46 years in WRU cup competitions and has always upheld the integrity of those competitions.

“In addition, the club has evidenced in a meeting with the competition management committee that dispensation had been provided on a number of occasions to enable students studying at the University to compete in WRU competitions.

“We were subsequently written to and advised by the committee that we could continue in the competition and so were surprised and disappointed to receive the letter from the WRU.

“We believe we should be able to take our place in the final of the competition and are seeking immediate clarification.”

The college’s director of rugby Alun Wyn Davies said he really feels for the students who look set to miss out on their big day at the Principality Stadium.

“I am sick to my stomach for these boys who have put so much time and effort into this competition,” he said. “The last couple of rounds were over the Easter break and we had guys travelling six or seven hours at their own expense to play in the games.

“It’s a bloody mess and I feel bloody sorry for the guys.

“They have been penalised because of a minefield that the WRU created. “It’s so disappointing.” Davies says the University – who don’t play in the WRU leagues – have been prevented from registering players with the Union.

Instead, they have been encouraged to release them to play for club sides on the weekend.

He says they have now been punished for that with players who turn out for teams above Division Three level being deemed ineligible for the Bowl.

“We were told by the Union that because we couldn’t register players we had special dispensation to play any of our students in the competition,” he said.

“We could have selected our first team and if we had done that it would have been telephone numbers.

“But in the spirit of what is a Division Three competition we chose not to do that.

“Something like 95 per cent of our side were second and third team players.

“We felt it was in the best interests of the Bowl not to play our first team.

“It seems to me the Union never thought a University side could get this far.

“We have got to the final and they have now gone and moved the goalposts. It has put the University in a bad light, and through no fault of our own.”

Explaining the decision, the WRU said: “Cardiff University have been replaced by their semi-final opponents Pembroke in the National Bowl Final after an independent panel ruled they had breached the competition’s eligibility rules.”

Pembroke - who lost 32-12 in last month’s semi-final at Dunvant - will now battle it out with Porthcawl for the Bowl in the opening match on finals day.

Nant Conwy and Brynmawr face each other in the Plate final, with Newport and Merthyr then competing in the top-of-the-bill WRU Cup Final. at the end of this season.

His decision followed a turbulent summer where he was forced to release newly-signed Springbok second row Franco van der Merwe due to financial issues.

There was the prospect of other players having to be let go as well to balance the books and it led to some pretty frank and fraught discussions behind the scenes.

It’s fair to say it wasn’t the most harmonious atmosphere and it inevitably had a bearing on Wilson’s decision to leave.

Taking those events into consideration and looking at the playing budget on offer for next season, he opted to move on, ultimately securing a post as Dai Young’s assistant at Wasps.

With the announcement coming so early in the campaign, one did fear just what the impact would be.

There was virtually an entire season to get through and one wondered whether it was really a tenable situation.

So for things to have turned out the way they have is a testament to both Wilson’s professionalism and the way his players have responded to him.

It would have been easy for people to metaphorically down tools and coast through the season, but the exact opposite has been the case.

If anything, the group has got even