The Ospreys

[MajorR]

Clubs not Regions are the way to stimulate elite competitivr rugby in Wales. Qualification for Europe will galvanise Welsh rugby amd grass roots be reinvigorated success

Absolutely disagree. Our Regions are currently struggling and are far from successful, but they are in my opinion the best option we have.

None of our club teams with the exception of Cardiff have the infrastructure in place to be able compete with what’s available in England, France and Ireland. Llanelli doesn’t have a club team any more, it folded around 3 years ago as it was unsustainable, but if the Scarlets were to become a club then the town of Llanelli has the infrastructure to sustain a decent outfit.

There is no way that most of the Welsh clubs could generate the finances necessary to sustain top rugby in Wales. In the “good old days” we had teams of amateurs who were getting boot money in a brown envelope, this was great for training twice a week and playing on a Saturday while holding down a full time job. These days it’s a professional sport, we have full time players/athletes call them and it’s a competitive market, our clubs would have to compete with the likes of Leicester, Bristol and Saracens to keep the best players and it’s not happening. There is no way 10 or 15 clubs could sustain the level of expenditure to keep a full 30 man squad over the course of the season. TV and full time professionalism have changed the dynamics. Neath were amongst the best Welsh clubs back in the late 80s and 90’s but even they experienced financial difficulties and went bust on more than 1 occasion. There’s no way clubs like Neath, Aberavon, Pontypool, Bridgend, Swansea, Ebbw Vale, Carmarthen Quins, Llandovery could make this work.
Also, we don’t the quality and quantity of players to make the club game work.

The WRU have introduced the Super Rugby Cymru competition which is supposed to be a development opportunity to help younger players make the step up to regional level, but the tournament s underfunded, doesn’t get enough publicity and in my opinion the WRU have made a few big mistakes in the way it’s been formatted, but that’s another issue.

Regional rugby is the only way we can compete, but there have to be changes to make it successful.

 

[J_B]

Spreading Welsh talent around 10 or so clubs would mean repeated embarrassment at European level and in the United league. Spreading it around 4 regions has been largely fruitless.
It's just romance to go back to clubs unless we opt out and allow players to play elsewhere if they're international class like Argentina. We could then just have a competition in Wales between clubs at a lower level.

 

[MajorR]

Spreading Welsh talent around 10 or so clubs would mean repeated embarrassment at European level and in the United league. Spreading it around 4 regions has been largely fruitless.
It's just romance to go back to clubs unless we opt out and allow players to play elsewhere if they're international class like Argentina. We could then just have a competition in Wales between clubs at a lower level.

Agree about spreading the talent too thinly and clubs repeatedly getting embarrassed, the reduction to 3 regions is based on pooling resources to make stronger teams, but the area they are looking to axe is the area which has produced the most players for Wales - it’s mental.

I’d rather retain the Regions because once we lose them the English clubs will come across (as they do now to an extent) and hoover up all our talent. My mates son was age grade with the Scarlets, but they cut him when he was around 16, he was picked by Hartpury / Gloucester like many other Welsh kids are and did his A levels up there in an academy type environment which is focussed on academia and sport and then on to a degree at the same place. He didn’t get a full Gloucester contract, but he’s now back in Wales and playing in the SRC and has time to further develop and potentially step up to Regional rugby in a similar way to Jac Morgan who was cut by the Scarlets, then offered a place at Aberavon where performed so well that he played his way in to Regional rugby and then Wales which is exactly what the WRU want from the SRC competition.