The WRU is nearing the conclusion of its consultation process, which will end next Tuesday
19:00, 22 Sep 2025Updated 19:00, 22 Sep 2025
Director of Rugby and Elite Performance Dave Reddin is the men driving through change(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
The next 10 week will be crucial in determining the future of the professional game in Wales as the Welsh Rugby Union’s formal consultation process comes to an end.
The public survey will officially close on Friday but that won’t be the end of the consultation process, with a series of meetings still to take place which will conclude with a WRU council meeting on September 30. As of today, 6,826 people have visited the survey and 2,905 have downloaded the consultation document.
The WRU executive, led by director of rugby and elite performance Dave Reddin, tabled what they consider to be the ‘optimal solution’ last month.
This includes a reduction from four to two professional men’s sides who will also run women’s teams.
Each men’s team will have a budget of £7.8m but Reddin also wants to build a national campus with both teams training out of the same facility.
On top of this the WRU would require full control over the rugby operations at both sides but still require significant private investment. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
Other options include a reduction to three unevenly or evenly funded teams, while sticking with four in a tiered funding model is also an option.
The WRU also wants to enhance the Super Rygbi Cymru competition.
Despite outlining his preference for a reduction to two professional teams, the WRU has met with all four current sides – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets – to get their views while it has also consulted with the official supporter groups, the Welsh Rugby Players Association and the community game.
What happens next?
Following the conclusion of the consultation period, Reddin will present his findings and potential options to the WRU board. There are a series of board meetings scheduled for October where they will discuss the findings and come up with a new structure for the professional game.
The WRU will try to get agreement by consensus but if it cannot it will go out to a vote on the main board. With regards to voting rights every member of the WRU board gets a vote.
These include the chair Richard Collier-Keywood, CEO Abi Tierney (although she is currently on sick leave), Jennifer Mathias, Andrew Williams, Alison Thorne, Amanda Bennett, Jamie Roberts, Colin Wilks, Chris Jones, Malcolm Wall, John Manders and Claire Donavan.
The WRU are expected to make a final announcement at the end of October but if it does decide to cut the number of teams the two or three who survive, or the new entities, won’t be announced at the time.
What is likely to happen?
There is every chance the new structure for the professional game will look different to what was proposed last month, with the union facing mounting opposition and Reddin appearing to soften his stance somewhat in the past week.
“I think it’s all shaping my opinion,” said Reddin last week.
“I learn something from every meeting I go into. The discussions with the head coaches and directors of rugby in each of the regions have been incredibly useful. None of those meetings have been combative.
“They’ve all been really professional and instructive. They’ve all leant into the problem we’re trying to solve here. I’ve really enjoyed it.
“They have influenced my thinking in a number of areas. I’m not sitting here dogmatically saying what we put out there is the only way of solving this.
“But what we’re engaged in is a respectful level of challenge about what are the right options. I think everyone so far agrees that we can’t just fix one bit of this system.
“It all needs a level of fixing if we’re going to create a sustainable, successful system going forward. “
WalesOnline understands there is a difference of opinion on the main WRU board.
There are those who want a reduction to two teams with merged entities, while others are in favour of a straight cut to two sides with existing brands retained. There have also been suggestions in some quarters the likely direction of travel could now be towards a compromise of three sides amid concerns over a lack of game time for players.
There has been significant opposition to the WRU’s optimal solution with politicians, supporters and the players against it. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
The WRU seem to be faced with a choice of appeasing its current stakeholders – from fans to players – or radically altering the face of the professional game. If the WRU compromised and went for three teams it would still require one team to either go of its own accord, a tender process or a merger.
Even if the WRU stuck with four teams on unequal funding there it could be argued it wouldn’t solve any of Welsh rugby’s deep-rooted problems and have failed to bring about the significant change to the game the union say the vast majority of people think is necessary.