WRU BATTLING TO GET GUARANTEED CHAMPIONS SPOT
MOVES are under way to ensure Wales will have at least one team in the Champions Cup once the four South African Super Rugby sides become eligible for the competition.
The Sharks, Stormers, Lions and Bulls will be joining an expanded PRO16 next season and will be able to qualify for Europe’s elite event from 2022.
If the current meritocracy system is retained, the Welsh regions could face a real battle to qualify for the Champions Cup given the anticipated strength of the South African teams.
So the WRU are pushing for a return to the old geographybased formula where all the competing countries are guaranteed at least one seat at Europe’s top table.
That system was scrapped in 2017 in order to give more weight to final league placings in the PRO14 and ensure the best teams progressed.
But with the South Africans coming on board, there could be a rethink.
The WRU have been working behind the scenes in talks with the PRO14 to guarantee there will be at least one region in the Champions Cup for the first two years of the new set-up.
WRU chief executive Steve Phillips says they are fighting to prevent a Welsh wipe-out.
“The ambition is, for a trial period, while we adjust to the South African teams coming on board, for there to be a shortterm ‘geography’ type qualification,” he said.
“We need to bed in and get ready for this. This is the conversation I have taken away to PRO14. People are right to flag the issue and we share the concerns. But I think we have dealt with it for the next two years.”
There had been speculation that attempts may be made to accommodate two of the South African sides in next season’s 24team Champions Cup.
But that has been quashed with confirmation that the eight highest-ranked sides from the PRO14 league campaign will be the ones to progress to Europe’s elite tournament.
That means Leinster, Ulster, Ospreys and Glasgow from Conference A and Munster, Connacht, Scarlets and Cardiff Blues from Conference B.
That’s welcome news for Cardiff – as they will be known from next season – and Glasgow, who finished fourth in their respective sections and would have been the ones to miss out if South African sides were shoehorned in.
It means Wales will now have three teams in the Champions Cup, with the Dragons going into the Challenge Cup.
Dean Ryan’s side could potentially be joined by the four South African sides in the second-tier tournament.
But it still remains to be seen just how things will work out next season – in both the PRO16 and Europe – given uncertainty over future regulations amid Covid concerns.
Phillips said: “South Africa are way behind us in terms of a vaccination strategy.
“There will be many learnings coming from the Lions experience this summer.
“What we don’t know is where South Africa will be with their vaccinations come September.
“Our teams could travel there, but it will be a case of looking at how the medical stuff is dealt with first.”
Phillips has also been speaking about the financing of the domestic game in Wales moving forward.
He says much hinges on the crowds that will be permitted for Wales’ four autumn games against New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Fiji.
The union are hoping for full capacity at the Principality Stadium, with the resultant muchneeded ticket revenue.
But that is dependent on Welsh Government policy and public health guidelines.
“The next challenge for the WRU is going to be if we are knocked back at near capacity crowds in the autumn,” he said.
“We have enough reserves, but we are going to have to invest a lot now in getting the community game back. That’s the right thing to do.
“It would be so wrong for us now to put finance over getting our communities back into rugby.
“If we can ride it out, and provided we have got some near majority crowds in the autumn, I think we will be OK.”
Players at the four regions have taken a 25% pay cut this season due to the financial impact of Covid.
Asked whether that would have to go on for another year, Phillips said: “That is a question to ask the regions, because they are not my employees.”
As for the level of payments from the WRU to the regions for next season, which dictate playing budgets, Phillips said: “That is an ongoing conversation. We are discussing that with the regions.
“We meet every two weeks to talk about it and update it.”