The WRU has finally spoken as the consultation process comes to an end
Dave Reddin, Director of Rugby and Elite Performance(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
Dave Reddin insists the Welsh Rugby Union’s plan to reduce the number of professional clubs from four to two is still on the table and has warned there will be some unhappy people.
The WRU’s formal consultation process has officially finished and there will now be a series of board meetings this week before a final decision on the new structure is made at the end of October. Many key stakeholders believe the WRU are softening their stance and will try to reduce it to three teams.
That may be the case, but according to Reddin the ‘optimal solution’ of going down to two professional teams with central control remains on the table.
“It is not off the table yet by any means but neither has it been replaced by something that works better,” said the WRU’s director of rugby and elite performance.
“I think it’s probably the nuance within it.
“So, what we did with the optimal system was we put something out that was pretty bold and provocative to answer the questions as they are now.
“The way I’ve described that is… we painted that with a two inch brush so inevitably in between the two inch brush and the artex pencil there’s a lot of detail and a lot of conversation.
“What I mean by that? If you are talking about the SRC what does that mean? Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
“You talk about the national academy how would that work?
“That’s been the debate we’ve been in, so that optimal has been refined as a result of consultation.
“Today, is the question of two off the table? No, nothing is off the table.
“We are still working through it.”
The WRU’s ‘optimal solution’ has been heavily criticised by all the key stakeholders, from supporters to players.
Hundreds of Scarlets fans took to the street ahead of their opening United Rugby Championship clash of the season against Munster last weekend to protest against the WRU’s plans.
The Welsh Rugby Players Association also put out a statement last month insisting they were against a reduction to two teams which could lead to an exodus of players out of Wales. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
According to Ospreys CEO Lance Bradley, Jac Morgan has told the WRU he will move outside of Wales if the Ospreys cease to exist.
But Reddin says the reality is there will be stakeholders who are disappointed at the WRU’s final decision.
“What we said right at the beginning is we’ve got to do the right thing for the future of Welsh rugby,” he said.
“In those decisions we are not going to keep everyone happy.
“It would be easy to say the players don’t like it so it can’t be this, this and this.
“Respectfully, the players are a massively important voice but they are not a uniformed voice.
“There are different people in that group who have vastly different ambitions and needs from a system.
“That’s not a homogenous opinion.
“I think we’ve got to keep balancing up the feasibility, the financial, the performance side of things to get to the right answer and try to be sensitive to all of those.
“I think the final piece of this is about phasing.
“We might look at this and say that’s the answer when? For the next two years, for the next three years versus the next five or eight years.
“I think there’s a piece in there about the profiling of changes.
“So, when might we do what might look different in the initial phase to what it might look like in five years time.