FOUR-MIDABLE
Professional Rugby Board committed to retaining all of the regions, says Walker
NIGEL Walker insists the Professional Rugby Board are committed to retaining four professional sides in Wales despite suggestions one may have to be cut.
The financial situation in Welsh rugby is dire with aggressive pay cuts and a drastic reduction of the regional playing budgets down to £4.5million set to come in over the next couple of seasons.
Ever since independent review by Oakwell Sports Advisory recommended cutting a region, after undertaking a thorough report into the financial situation in Welsh rugby, there has been speculation Wales will go down to three teams.
And while he couldn’t give any cast iron guarantees, interim Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Walker stressed the intention is to make sure all four regions survive.
“Four regions is the aim,” said the former Wales wing. “Very little in this world can be guaranteed but the aim of the PRB, which is made up of the regions and the WRU, four regions is the aim.
“We’ve had this conversation eight-nine months ago when the Oakwell Report came out.
“We know that it suggested three, the conversation was had, and the aim is to hold on to four regions, and over the next few years to make them as competitive as we possibly can.”
The question of whether Wales can actually afford four professional sides has been intensely debated especially after two English clubs, Wasps and Worcester Warriors, went into liquidation over the past year.
Walker is adamant the current belt tightening is necessary to ensure the survival of professional rugby in Wales, and while he admits there will be significant short term pain, he is hopeful the regions can thrive in the long-run.
“Most people understand there needs to be a correction because we don’t want a Worcester and a Wasps,” said Walker.
“That correction is being made. It’s going to be tough for the next year or so but we all hope things will get better in the not too distant future.
“The correction has to be made now if the game is going to be sustainable.
“They (regions) can get better because there is work being done with the academies for example with more home grown players, and better quality of players.
“There’s work being done with the commercials of the regions. You’ve got to get people in through the gate.
“I know there’s a difficulty in that if a team is not as strong as the regional coach would like, and therefore the team isn’t winning as many games as we’d like, then that would be difficult in the short term.”
Walker insists it is a strategic aim of the PRB to have successful regions and believes it is interlinked with success at test level.
“In the medium to long term we want greater success on the field, greater commercials, more home grown players, and those contracts being at a level which is sustainable,” he said. That means we can be competitive at regional level. I’ve gone on record whenever this is thrown at me that you can’t have a successful national team without successful regions. It’s part of the same ecosystem and we need to find a way to make both successful.”
■ More from Nigel Walker in Sport on Sunday pullout