Four Regions Set to Stay?

Welsh Rugby is always amongst the hottest topics of conversation for sports fans in the nation. Whether it be the state of the national side, or the best free bets ahead of the latest slate of fixtures, rugby tends to dominate talk in pubs and front rooms up and down the country.

Barring all too-fleeting highlights, 2022 has not been a great year for fans of the oval ball game. When Welsh rugby has been making the sports news headlines, it has more often than not been for disappointing, or even slightly worrying reasons. Falling into that latter category is the increasing pressure been mounting on Wales’s ability to maintain four regional sides.

From Four Down to Two?

Scarlets, Ospreys, Cardiff, and the Dragons may be rooted in the history and heritage of the nation, but the fact remains that they are separated by little more than 80 miles. In a time of increasing financial pressures around the world, and a related downturn in the sport, the question is being asked if that is simply too many sides in too small a space. Would it not be better to have just two sides – one representing the East of the country, and another for the west?

Sacrilege to traditionalists, but Welsh Rugby fans need only look across the border to see just how bad things can get should the current downward trend continue. Wasps may be six-time Premiership champions, two-time winners of the Champions Cup, and Challenge Cup winners, but all that history was not enough to stop the much-decorated club from going to the wall in October of this year. They survive for now but have been relegated to the Championship with all staff being made redundant. The road back looks both long and difficult. Worryingly Wasps were no isolated case, with Worcester having entered administration in September of this year.

Against that backdrop, it is no real surprise that a two-team model is being touted. Included amongst its proponents is no less a figure than former Ospreys and British Lions winger, Tommy Bowe. When questioned on the issue on the ITV Wales’s Y Byd ar Bedwar programme, Bowe was forthright in his opinions, stating, “There’s not enough players, there’s not enough money to be able to draw sponsors who can really drive on four professional teams in my opinion.” And, “If I was to look at the Welsh system now I personally think that if you split it down the middle and you had a divide, say around Bridgend, and you had a West Walian team and an East Walian team I can only imagine how competitive and how good a team you would have.”

A Determination to Make it Work – But No Guarantees

However, for now, at least, it seems that the current framework will be maintained, with the four clubs and Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) having reportedly agreed on a six-year deal in principle. Given the history of late about-turns in this area, fans will likely be waiting until everything is signed and sealed before letting out a sigh of relief. Nevertheless, the words coming from WRU Chief Executive Steve Philipps must be taken as encouraging.

Speaking of the current situation, Phillips stated, “We are entering into this six-year framework agreement with four teams. It is the same four teams but, in terms of economic challenges that may come in the future and whatever that means, it is our ambition to retain four.”, but he did also sound a word of caution, “Can I guarantee that? It’s probably not for me to guarantee that to be blunt, but probably no I can’t, given what we’ve seen in England.”