A defining moment for Welsh rugby, but what can we expect from the big review?
WELSH rugby is at rock bottom having suffered the ignominy of a first Six Nations Wooden Spoon since 2003, while its four professional clubs are struggling on and off the field.
It’s safe to say the younger generation have been spoiled by success on the international stage with six Six Nations titles, including four Grand Slams, since 2005.
But to coin a popular phrase, the roof wasn’t fixed when the sun was shining, leaving Wales back in the doldrums as they were back in 2003.
When you factor in the pitiful state of the regional game then significant changes have to be made.
Chief executive Abi Tierney will be announcing the WRU’S strategy for the game in Wales as a whole this June with the help of Portas Consulting.
It’s easy to be apprehensive over the review when one considers the sheer number of investigations into Welsh rugby over the years which have amounted to the grand total of zero.
Of course, the question is what will this review be focussing on?
The official line is that it will focus on the game in Wales as a whole but the professional game will be at the forefront of it.
According to the heads of terms of the Professional Rugby Agreement, the WRU are set to pay the regions £17.4m for the 2024/25 season.
If that figure stays as it is, with the regions operating off a salary cap of £4.5m with two marquee players allowed above the cap, then they can forget about competing in the latter stages of competitions.
The first thing they will likely look at is how the WRU can attract significant long-term investment into the professional game which can trickle down the supply chain.
They will need to look at whether the WRU are spending their money wisely and whether it needs to cut costs.
It would also be a good idea to investigate what back office functions can be shared between the WRU and its four professional sides, with regards travel costs, heat, water, insurance and electricity.
As executive director of rugby Nigel Walker said in a recent interview with Walesonline, every option will be considered regarding the number of professional clubs, whether they are better served cutting a region in order to further concentrate their talent pool and also the potential for a tiered funding model.
Of course, it would be better to retain four sides full of quality Welsh players who are able to compete, but that seems like a long way down the line.
All four sides are private busi
nesses which means they cannot be shut down by the governing body.
There is also the option of funding one side significantly higher than the others with the aim of winning silverware at club level, and a percentage of the money generated from latter stage participation would trickle down to the other three.
But the chances of this being agreed by three of the four regions is very low.
Of course, the WRU must look at all options of raising revenue and making cutbacks elsewhere before it considers the drastic option of cutting a side.
The infrastructure of all four professional sides and the development pathway needs to be looked at very closely.
The problem with the current pathway is that it is not serviced well enough.
It is being used to develop coaches as well as players and this is something the WRU must remedy.
The quality of coaches at academy level needs to be improved drastically but of course this costs money, while the new Elite Development Competition really needs to be a success in order to bridge the gap between the semi-professional and regional games.
One area which is of huge concern to the WRU is the amount of players signing contracts with the academies of English Premiership sides.
What makes matters worse is the fact some Welsh players have it written into their contracts that should England U18s or U20s come calling them they will have to represent the Red Rose at age grade level, as is the case with Exeter’s Kane James.
You have to wonder whether the WRU are considering any legal action with regards this point.
Nobody can begrudge any Welsh youngster from a working class background taking up a scholarship at prestigious schools like Clifton, Hartpury or Millfield but the WRU really need to find a way of competing because its future talent is being snatched from right under its noses.
Such a scenario should also apply in higher education so that talented Welsh players don’t necessarily have to leave Wales to attend English universities as was the case recently with Immanuel Feyi-waboso.
One of the reasons behind Ireland’s success is the private school systems where talented young rugby players are effectively professionalised from the age of 13.
It would be near impossible to replicate the Irish system in Wales but the WRU needs to foster better relationships with schools, while there are those in the upper echelons of the WRU who believe money should be invested in three national centres of excellence in south, west and north Wales.
All four regions are also paying back a significant loan to the Welsh Government.
The original CLBILS loan of £18m which was refinanced as an £18m commercial loan is now believed to be around £13m which is still a substantial figure in need of paying back at an interest rate of 8.25%
The WRU needs to come up with a commercial strategy to create more income in order to service all areas of the game.
Also, the WRU can’t afford to get complacent with the women’s game.
Yes, it has made huge progress by creating professional contracts but they can’t rest on their laurels or women’s rugby won’t develop as well as it should.
There is also a big worry in some quarters the new strategy will be a case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, while it is unclear whether the new WRU board have the stomach to do some really unpleasant things for the greater good of the game.
Welsh rugby finds itself at a crossroads and this time it really needs to do something drastic to get back on course.