MPs have already announced plans to question the WRU about the outcome of its consultation and the impact on the sport’s wider economic and cultural importance in Wales.
“With rugby woven into the fabric of life in communities up and down the nation, the proposed structural changes announced by the WRU today will resonate far beyond the pitch,” said Ruth Jones MP, chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee.
But the big questions fans wants answering are which team will be cut and when?
The WRU had sought to cull two regions but the backlash made it clear that was too far and too much to bear. But still, one will go.
Despite attempts to play down the scenario, it appears a straight battle between Ospreys and Scarlets – the two most successful clubs in the regional rugby era which began in 2003 – for the single west Wales spot.
There remains a hope within the governing body that the two clubs will merge, as they so nearly did so in 2019. That would certainly make a formidable combination but would take a enormous amount of diplomacy – or desperation.
Both teams’ funding deal with the WRU expires in June 2027 but the likelihood is that this will be decided before then.
The WRU remained coy over how long they are contracted to provide four teams to the URC, who were firm in their desire for an even number of Welsh teams to safeguard the structure and format of the competition.
The WRU could be liable to pay compensation for withdrawing a team prematurely but negotiations are already taking place over a 15-team league, or about who could take the final place if it remains at 16.
South Africa are said to be against suggestions of inviting a club from the United States or Canada, because of the travel, so could a European option, say from Georgia, Spain or Portugal, or even an English Championship club be an option?
