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The WRU Have Watched the Regions Die…


Roger Lewis

By Andrew Collins
December 5 2013

Since Lee Bryne left Wales for Clermont in 2006, there has been an ever increasing trickle of Welsh internationals leaving to play their rugby abroad; this year however marks a turning point from which it seems impossible to return.

The warning signs have been there for a long time now. While Bryne was one of the first Welsh superstars to be lured away from regional rugby, he was followed, slowly at first, by Mike Phillips, Luke Charteris, Gethin Jenkins and James Hook. Then last year, things began to pick up even more as Dan Lydiate, Jamie Roberts, and George North all departed, along with other Welsh fringe players Tom James, Tavis Knoyle and Paul James. But this year looks set to be the most gruesome by some worrying margin.

Jonathan Davies (Clermont) and Ian Evans (Toulon) have already confirmed they will join the exodus, while it looks increasingly likely that Richard Hibbard (Gloucester), Rhys Priestland (Wasps), Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), Sam Warburton (Northampton), Alun-Wynn Jones (A number of clubs), Adam Jones and more will also leave their regions.

You’ll be hard pushed to find a true rugby fan who could blame any one of those players wanting to play their rugby somewhere else. The greater money, the new lifestyle experiences, the higher intensity of matches and with it better support; it’s a no brainer. Every single one of those players has been a national hero for club and country in recent years and deserves every slice of fortune they get. Just to reiterate, no one blames them.

But why has this become such an easy decision to make? Why can’t Wales’ regions play in a league which is commercially lucrative, has the intensity to match the players’ ambition and is appealing to both home and away supporters? Why have the WRU allowed the regions to rot in the meaningless, and lifeless RaboDirect Pro 12, knowing all the while that the game in France and England was going from strength to strength, developing competitive leagues with strong brand identity and a growing supporter base.

For far too long the WRU’s sole focus has to pay off the Millennium Stadium debt. They believed that in order to do this, they needed a successful national side and therefore more control over the players. This led to the formation of regional rugby.

Since the inception of the regions, itself a pathetically managed and marketed notion, the WRU have shifted the focus away from supporters going to watch club ruby, diluting the match-day experience to the point that there are now few genuine regional fans left, instead emphasising the importance of Welsh international ‘Big Day Out’ matches.

A few years ago, I read a post from someone on this site, possibly ATTR or PhilBB, which described the Welsh national side as Wales’ 5th region. It was a poignant thought which resonated with me when I read it way back then. Fast forward 5 years and they’re not so much the 5th region, but Wales’ only competitive region. The WRU put all its fingers into one ‘Team Wales’ pie and gone to war with the 4 regions, dismantling them little-by-little for years; An extra week player release for international training before 6 Nations matches; playing an extra Autumn match the week before Heineken Cup fixtures; reducing the number of nWq players therefore inflating the price of a Welsh player; and all of this playing in a league where teams must travel hundreds of miles (even flights!) away on a Friday night at 7.05pm - I’m as passionate a Blues fan as they come, but even I wouldn’t pay a couple of hundred quid to watch Blues take on Treviso on the weekend of a six nations match.

And even now, when the regions need their union more than ever, rather than help the us keep these players, they are actively encouraging players to head to abroad! After Wales’ loss to South Africa in November, Warren Gatland blamed the standard of regional rugby for their loss,

“The opportunity that South Africa and southern hemisphere teams get to play at that level all the time, whether in the championship or Super rugby […] That’s the big difference and the advantage that southern hemisphere teams have over us. Coming out of club rugby or regional rugby, talking to our players, and it’s chalk and cheese the difference.”

And what ever happened to the supposed £1 million set aside to keep players in Wales? The offer was made very publically in the middle of a war between the WRU and Region Rugby Wales, but the mitigating conditions of the money were kept rather more private. Time after time, the media tell the Welsh public that the regions are lacking ambition or failing to reach their potential, but it’s never made clear that they’re doing so with one hand tied behind their backs.

Looking back over all the decisions made by the WRU in the last 10 years, it’s hard not to think that this was always their plan! They say that sort of conspiracy-thinking can send you to the mad house, but are the WRU really that naïve/stubborn that they’re going to sit back and watch the regions die?

The disparity between club and country is unfathomable. 4 Six Nations crowns, including 3 Grand Slams, a World Cup Semi-final, countless British and Irish Lions, and yet in all that time just a handful of second tier cups to show for the clubs.

Of course there wasn’t a conceited plan to kill the regions, but the WRU’s constant neglect of the club game and heavy emphasis on a successful Wales has led us here. The very foundations of Welsh rugby have been crumbling for some time, but if the rumoured departures do happen this year, we will be passed the point of any return. How long can the WRU continue to run the Welsh national squad with no European club rugby? If the regions die, it will only be a matter of time before the whole game implodes in Wales. And it will be a very sad day for the so called rugby nation.

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The WRU Have Watched the Regions Die…
Discussion started by theArmsPark.co.uk , 05/12/2013 15:26
theArmsPark.co.uk
05/12/2013 15:26
What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
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james55
05/12/2013 15:46
agreed please read Simon Thomas in todays WM a very good article spells it out the death of Weksl Rugby organised by the WRU At last the Welsh media has to;d the truth

JO'G
06/12/2013 14:26
simple solution

1) The 4 welsh 'clubs' join the English league

2) Charge the Welsh union when they want to borrow thier players

everyone is a winner - apart from the Irish, Scots and Italians

DominiosHalfTimeSuperSub
07/12/2013 12:41
I don't understand the WRU's strategy. Whether by design or by accident they're killing off the only clubs or regions in Wales with which fans in Wales can make any cultural or historical connotation with.

And when they're all dead and gone, then what are the WRU going to do? I really think they want to try and pull an IRFU and run a couple of WRU super-regions but then they've got the same problem where they'll still be competing with the so called "fifth region": the national team.

Roger Lewis and the WRU have done far more damage to club or regional rugby in Wales than Premiership Rugby ever had.

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/4409/bestintheworld.jpg

soutcoast5
08/12/2013 20:46
Not so straightforward. The Scarlets and Dragons have been effectively bankrolled by the WRU for years. Last year we saw the Ospreys' owners walk away leaving the region in a perilous state. Meanwhile Peter Thomas must be over 70 and won't be backing the Blues forever. There's no one else behind him. So we have a bankrupt regional game with no one prepared to step in.
If these had been conventional businesses they would have collapsed years ago. The WRU keep them going. The owners shareholding and loans are worthless but they keep going because of WRU money.
Let them fold and start again.

smudgerblue
08/12/2013 21:10
It's not the WRU money.

TV revenues for Rabo and Heineken are due to the clubs but WRU acts as the middle man.

WRU pays for the release of players - this is WRU money generated from international games that players contracted to the regions play in - the money is compensation for the use of the players as the regions can't use them at the same time.

Cardifflose
09/12/2013 00:08
If you honestly think there is no one "behind" PT waiting in the wings your deluded, if and when he goes there are plenty willing and trying to take over

Cardifflose
09/12/2013 00:13
What money is this WRU bankroll the regions with? And Cardiff are a PLC so that's a normal company not a WRU franchise so why have we not gone to the wall?
Little analogy for you, your wages get paid into a bank, you withdraw YOUR wages from the bank, is that bank "bankrolling" you?

Cardifflose
09/12/2013 00:20
Also Cardiff Rugby is a PLC so going by what you say we should have gone to the wall right? Not a WRU franchise or WRU run/controlled entity a PLC, on the money you say we are bankrolled with please educate us as we have missed this, little analogy before you educate us, YOUR wages get paid into a bank (WRU), you then withdraw YOUR wages, does this mean your being bankrolled?

smudgerblue
09/12/2013 09:09
Also, I think Holland has been quoted as saying that they will at least breakeven or even make a profit this year.

Neil
09/12/2013 16:06
Quote:
soutcoast5
Not so straightforward. The Scarlets and Dragons have been effectively bankrolled by the WRU for years. Last year we saw the Ospreys' owners walk away leaving the region in a perilous state. Meanwhile Peter Thomas must be over 70 and won't be backing the Blues forever. There's no one else behind him. So we have a bankrupt regional game with no one prepared to step in.
If these had been conventional businesses they would have collapsed years ago. The WRU keep them going. The owners shareholding and loans are worthless but they keep going because of WRU money.
Let them fold and start again.
There is so much guff in here I'm unsure where to start So I shan't I'll just say
http://cdnimg.visualizeus.com/thumbs/6e/50/nelson,simpsons-6e500fc42cbcd65113e9d2546acb4db0_h.jpg

___________________________________________________________

Soldier: This is the worst part. The calm before the battle
Fry: And then the battle is not so bad?
Soldier: Oh, right. I forgot about the battle

Better to understand a little than to misunderstand a lot

southcoast5
09/12/2013 20:49
Look no one contests that there's an uneven playing field for finance and market presence in the Welsh game. The brand value of 'wales' sucks all the oxygen out of the market space leaving little for the regions. The regions have failed to generate much brand value of their own but while not helped by the tribalism of Welsh club rugby, this was not inevitable.l0 years ago Leinster (at Donnybrook) and Ulster had the same crowds as CAP. Now look at them.

But we are where we are. Yes the WRU act as conduit for TV money and yes the region's are the employers but the value of a Warburton , Faletau or Wyn Jones is massively bigger in a red shirt than it is in a regional one and that has to be recognised.

It didn't have to be like this. In the 50's,60's and 70's Cardiff had arguably the biggest brand in British and possibly world club rugby. Indeed Welsh club rugby as a whole punched way above its weight and its brand had a stronger value in its market than the Welsh team had in its own. Just take a look in the Athletic Club Trophy room to get a sense of where we've come from. CAP had the biggest crowds in British club rugby. Now it has one of the smallest.

The PWC report laid the blame for all this firmly at the door of the regions and its difficult to see how they can generate the solution. The Blues are a PLC but are only solvent because of Thomas' loans. Any new investor will have to buy him out at a cost of millions and will then have to invest heavily in players and infrastructure - all for a business that barely breaks even. I stand by my earlier post. Let the region's go and start again.

Cardifflose
09/12/2013 21:06
? Blues are not a PLC, they are an umbrella of a PLC but a great as the above you written looks it still does not answer what money it is you say that the WRU bankroll for argument sake the Blues?
Also yes I do believe somebody would be interested in a company that has broken even or made a small profit this year, and is possibly about to enter the 2nd most lucrative comp in the business!! please point out to me which football or rugby owner runs a club for a return on his investment because if there is then sorry they are more deluded than you

Nickysbeard
09/12/2013 21:44
Follow.@SaveShaun on twitter to support the regions

ATTR
09/12/2013 22:08
Cardiff RFC is a limited company. There is a Cardiff Blues Limited Company But it is not trading and has never filed accounts. Technically it should be struck off. But that's not important.

Neither are PLCs they are Ltds. That is Private Limited companies and not Public limited companies. The difference is significant and important.

That error is just one of soutcoat5's errors.

Cardifflose
09/12/2013 22:53
Think he was responding to me ATTR I mistakingly put PLC on my post get them mixed up sad smiley ops!

But rest if my post stands and still waiting for his answer as to when Cardiff RFC/Blues were or indeed are being bankrolled by WRU

ATTR
09/12/2013 22:57
Easily confused Public Limited and Private limited both are PL.but not shortened as such. If he was "correcting" you, he should have got that right at least!

southcoast5
10/12/2013 20:35
Happy to respond.Sorry about the PLC error. Merely picking up on the earlier post. Whether a private or public limited entity it matters little when it comes to insolvency (other than a PLC will find it technically easier to raise new equity). Suffice to say the Blues are an incorporated entity and would be insolvent without Thomas' loans which at the last look totalled about £6m.

Back to the WRU issue, my comments were aimed at regional rugby as a whole. The Dragons are 50% owned by the WRU having been rescued after Brown's departure. The Scarlets (and Llanelli in their previous life)have effectively gone out of business twice and been rescued on both occasions primarily by the WRU.The Ospreys and Blues have not needed this degree of support but currently receive a share of the £6.6m from the participation agreement. If we assume a 4way split this amounts to £1.65m per region which in the Blues case represents over 22% of turnover and is way in excess of any proportionate costs of squad member'swages cost. Tv and competition money is seperate and amounts to something in the region of £2.5m per region. Again this amount contains a large chunk of subsidy. So in the Blues case something in excess of 60% of turnover comes from the WRU. Yes some of it is to compensate for player release and some of it is derived from comps and TV where the region's are the 'product' but there is a big chunk of subsidy inthere without which the Drags and Scarlets would collapse and the Blues and O's struggling even more than they are at present.

Now there is a strong case that having set them up in the first place the WRU have a duty to help them prosper. They can clearly afford more and the fact that they are allowing our best players to leave is a sinister sign that they want the current regional set up to fail.

I'm sick of Lewis' smug, sanctimonious motherhood statements about pulling together and followed by nothing. He is clearly a man that RRW simply can't work with. I think his brief is to dismantle the fault line that exists by having the regions in private ownership , a hangover from the pre regional days and the fact that the WRU was itself in dire financial straits at the time.so if that's what is going to happen, let it happen soon.

As for what follows, how about Cardiff DEC in the aviva ?

southcoast5
10/12/2013 23:36
Oops predictive texting. That was Cardiff RFC in the Aviva

Blues Boy 4
13/12/2013 21:43
And the Regions have watched club rugby die - the reason they cannot generate a bigger fan base is that they have disenfranchised swathes of communities who cannot identify with them - they have partly been the architects of their own downfall in conjunction with the WRU

ATTR
14/12/2013 09:38
By perpetuating the regional myth they have. You are correct. They should have been honest about who they are.

WE are CARDIFF and I will join with those at PONTY who say

"I WILL NEVER BE A BLUE!"

capsgon
14/12/2013 10:20
When the pressure is on during a game, the truth emerges quite naturally from the crowd who always shout "Cardiff, Cardiff"

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