Fri, August 22, 2025
WRU plans to cut the number of professional clubs from four to two
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) plans to cut the number of its professional clubs from four to two, insisting that this is vital to protect the game. This puts Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets at risk.
This also applies to the women’s game. The WRU stated: “Reforming the structure of Welsh rugby creates an opportunity to accelerate growth and success in the women's game in Wales through significant investment.”
Chief Executive of the WRU, Abi Tierney, expressed: “We know how emotional rugby is and that people will be hurting when thinking about what this could mean for their team…
Not everyone is going to be happy but I don't think carrying on as we are is the right thing for fans either…
We had to do something radically different to get us to a better place and that everyone can get behind, and we hope people will step out of their corner.”
The four options for the professional clubs include:
- Four clubs with unequal funding (two elite clubs with a budget of £6.7m and two developmental clubs on £5.2m).
- Three clubs with equal funding (equal funding of £6.9m).
- Three clubs with unequal funding (two elite clubs on £6.9m and a developmental club on £5.4m).
- Two clubs with equal funding, deemed the “optimal solution” by the WRU (£7.8m each).
The “optimal solution” would also result in increased team sizes of 50 senior players, plus academy talent. The women's squads would have 40 players.
In comparison, England’s Premiership Rugby has 10 teams which have a salary cap of £7.8m per team each season. This also funds one marquee player per side. The top 14 French teams have a budget of £9.2m per season.
The new options involve the WRU funding all rugby operations. Private investors will manage commercial operations.
A consultation period will commence on 1 September, and in mid-October a recommendation will be sent to the WRU board who will have to decide that month.
Tierney voiced: “We have put a proposal out there to be shot at – please shoot at it, and shoot at it constructively, because I can't remember somebody yet who hasn't said we need to do something different or change.”
WRU Chair, Richard Collier-Keywood, stated: “Every player and fan story starts somewhere, and we have encouraged our teams to get a full range of views from grassroots through pathways, up to elite level.”
The WRU are also urging the wider rugby community to take part online with a survey set to open September 1.
The WRU believes the consultation process will deal with any potential challenge under competition law, as stated by BBC Sport.
For financial reasons, Cardiff has been owned by the WRU since April, so outrage is mainly expected from the other three clubs. The WRU currently has a legal dispute with Scarlets and Ospreys regarding its ownership of Cardiff, so tension between the governing body and clubs is expected to increase considerably.
Ospreys has been granted planning permission to redevelop St Helen’s Sports Ground in Swansea, its new home ground, with construction on Phase 1 scheduled to begin next month.
Scarlets, who play in Llanelli, recently announced a historic investment partnership with U.S. based House of Luxury LLC.
Dragons are adamant to keep elite rugby within Gwent.
WRU Director of Rugby and Elite Performance, Dave Reddin, voiced: “We are asking people to let go of the past and the present and imagine a completely different future.”
Another, more long-term goal of the WRU includes building a national campus for the two chosen elite teams. It would also be the base for national teams and academies.
In another radical change, individual club academies will get scrapped and a men's national academy will be created, supported by player development centres for players between the ages of 14-18 supported by Super Rygbi Cymru clubs, as reported by Wales Online.
