The Welsh Rugby Union has published its promised formal consultation document into the future of elite rugby in Wales, identifying a ‘proposed optimal system’ which will be subject to a wide-ranging discussion, to include players, professional clubs, fans and community clubs across the country.
The formal consultation, which begins on 1st September, will seek to address the key challenges facing Welsh rugby and the impact this is having on the performance of our professional and national teams.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW CONSULTATION SECTION
The WRU executive has considered the system changes required and various options to achieve these and has presented a proposed optimal system to the WRU Board. The Board has asked for this consultation so they can look at the evidence and views from all our stakeholders before they make a decision in October.
The proposed optimal system contains five interconnected elements (**) which are designed to address systemic transformation across Welsh elite rugby. Throughout the month, the WRU will formally consult with key stakeholders directly impacted by any potential change to the current structure. This includes the four professional men’s clubs, the Professional Rugby Board (PRB) the Welsh Rugby Players Association (WRPA), players (both senior men’s and women’s) and the Supporters’ Groups associated with the four professional sides as well as WRU member clubs and representatives of the United Rugby Championship (URC).
A wide-ranging engagement programme will also run in tandem to the formal consultation to seek views from the entire rugby community from fans to partners and sponsors, related institutions and governing bodies.
Speaking about the consultation, WRU CEO Abi Tierney, said: “We are clear that the current rugby model in Wales is no longer delivering what our game needs. That’s why we’re inviting views on the opportunities for change we’ve put forward — so we can bring the One Wales Strategy to life.
“This consultation is about listening. No decisions have been made, and it’s crucial that we work together. Every voice matters, including, critically, our professional clubs, and everyone must have a seat at the table to help shape the future of rugby in Wales.”
As part of this process, the WRU’s executive team, spearheaded by Director of Rugby and Elite Performance, Dave Reddin, has developed a proposed optimal system for the professional game.
This new system is designed to build the foundations for a stronger future through systematic transformation across the game, and lead to a sustainable upturn in performance at professional and national team level in both the men’s and the women’s games.
WRU Director of Rugby and Elite Performance, Dave Reddin said: “This is a genuine consultation process and while we have our own ideas based on the research we have done, we know the best solutions come from listening.
“The approach we have designed is respectful, thorough, and inclusive and we encourage people to challenge our ideas and help us create something that we can all get behind.”
As part of the conversation, the consultation will explore the high-performance benefits, financial sustainability, and feasibility of investing substantially in the rugby ecosystem in Wales and of the four different professional club models. As part of this, the future club model will be viewed through the lens of needing to secure the on-field success and the long-term financial sustainability of the whole game in Wales. The models being presented, are:
- Model A, Four Professional clubs with unequal funding
- Model B, Three Professional clubs with equal funding
- Model C, Three Professional clubs with unequal funding
- Model D, Two Professional clubs with equal funding
The proposed optimal system seems to link best to Model D which focuses playing talent and resources into two professional clubs, each in turn running two professional teams – one men’s and one women’s side. The system will have the single goal of creating a ‘winning-Wales’ across the game. However, we recognise that there are alternatives including investing less in some of the wider systems changes which would then bring other models into focus.
If the two-club scenario is chosen it would release significant investment which, together with the substantial improvement in the WRU’s financial position over the last two years, would be used to enhance the existing semi-professional Super Rygbi Cymru league, narrowing the gap between Wales’ leading heritage clubs and the elite professional game. Crucially, we would also invest in accelerating the growth of the women’s game whilst also boosting the academy structure and player pathways feeding into the professional teams.
In addition, the creation of a national campus, a central element of the proposed optimal system, would create an aspirational, world-class environment, designed for innovation and collaboration, becoming the training base for national teams, national academies and the two professional clubs.
“The national campus would be a purposeful, collaborative space, a uniquely Welsh environment that other top tier nations would find difficult to replicate, creating a sustainable, collaborative space that provides the competitive advantage needed to increase our performance levels in all aspects of the game from playing to coaching”, adds Reddin.
The consultation also acknowledges the importance of the community game and schools’ rugby, but they are not included within the scope of this consultation, however support for education of elite players is considered as an essential part the funnel into the elite pathway.
The Women’s game is a major focus of the One Wales strategy with significant work already undertaken and underway. The consultation reinforces the WRU’s commitment to the Women’s game which would be accelerated through the recommendations made as part of previous work.
Speaking about the consultation process, WRU Chair, Richard Collier-Keywood said, “I am pleased to see that this consultation includes listening to people from all aspects of the game in Wales. Every player and fan story starts somewhere, and we have encouraged our teams to get a full range of views from grassroots through pathways, up to elite level.
“The important thing for us as a Board is that, when we are presented with an updated recommendation in October, we know we will have listened and considered all the feedback and options before making a decision.
“We have a once in a generation opportunity to get this right and create an exciting future for our game and this is a responsibility we are taking extremely seriously.”
How to get involved?
The Consultation will run from the 1st to 26th September with a number of ways to get involved.
The wider rugby community will be encouraged to take part online, via the One Wales strategy website where they can get access, from 20th August, to review the full proposal as well as watch an exclusive interview with Abi Tierney and Dave Reddin as they talk through the consultation process and the proposed optimal system.
From 1st September an online survey will open, allowing fans to share their views directly with the WRU.