The Welsh Rugby Union faces the ongoing threat of an EGM but fans have now been warned against calling for those at the top of the governing body to be replaced
There have been calls for WRU bosses to be replaced but Moore has warned against it(Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency)
England legend Brian Moore believes removing the current Welsh Rugby Union leadership would lead to years of more problems as he accused fans of being unable to specify what they want for the future of the game in Wales.
With the governing body pushing ahead with plans to cut the number of professional sides in Wales to three, it was confirmed last month that Ospreys owners Y11 Sports & Media have been named as the WRU’s preferred bidder to buy Cardiff, with the Ospreys now seemingly on the brink of disappearing.
Last week, Swansea Council released bombshell details from minutes of a meeting between council leader Rob Stewart, Ospreys CEO Lance Bradley and WRU chief Abi Tierney, which claimed that Bradley confirmed the Ospreys would cease to be a professional rugby region after next season if the Y11 deal goes ahead. The Ospreys and WRU say the council’s statement was itself inaccurate.
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Furious fans have held protests and the council has launched legal action, while an extraordinary general meeting is now on the cards with enough clubs in Wales expressing a desire to trigger the process. An EGM would see clubs vote on three motions, including a vote of no confidence in WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood and Professional Rugby Board chair Malcolm Wall.
However, Moore – whose wife Belinda was appointed as the WRU’s Head of Women’s Rugby in January last year – has warned against getting rid of the current structure, arguing that it will inevitably lead to years going by without needed changes.
Writing in his column for The Telegraph, he added that fans’ condemnation of the union is “of little use” without them providing alternatives, which he claims he saw little evidence of while speaking to supporters and former players before Wales’ Six Nations defeat to England.
Reflecting on the 48-7 drubbing, Moore said that fans had “no expectations” of getting a result at Twickenham, but added that what was more revealing was “their inability to specify what they wanted for the future of Welsh rugby, how this was to be achieved and who would pay for it.”
He continued: “Universal condemnation of the Welsh Rugby Union is of little use when it provides no alternative suggestions. It seems to me that those involved with Welsh rugby are repeating the mistake made by recent would-be revolutionaries in England.
“When they say they have not been listened to, they mean they have not been agreed with.”
Calling on fans to “say what [they] want” rather than “what [they] don’t like”, Moore added that “drastic changes” were needed if Welsh rugby is to avoid repeating past mistakes.
“As a disinterested party, I can reasonably point out that getting rid of the whole current structure will usher in yet another fallow period of 12 months simply to recruit another set of top board members who will, in turn, need at least another two years to effect any changes and then a further five years for them to have any real effect,” the former England hooker continued.
“It is not good enough to say what you don’t like; you have to say what you want – specifically. Who do you want in terms of personnel and what policies do you advocate?
“Platitudes like “listening to the members” and “prioritising the grass roots” are meaningless when it comes to executing initiatives that work,” he added. “The stakeholders in the Welsh game are entitled to do whatever they want but they should remember that what they decide will have generational consequences.
“What Saturday’s result shows is that without drastic changes, which might include cutting one or even two regions, Welsh rugby is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.”
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