The first WRU board meeting of the year in January is imminent with a lot still to be decided on
In under 48 hours a new year will be upon us but the same issue which plagued Welsh rugby in 2025 will be carried into 2026.
The Welsh Rugby Union’s chair, Richard Collier-Keywood, told journalists in the wake of the annual general meeting it was his hope to have reached consensus on the new structure for the professional game by the end of 2025. Somewhat predictably that hasn’t happened, but high-ranking figures within the Welsh game believe we will get a clear direction of travel by the end of January.
The first WRU board meeting of the year in January is expected to yield some results as the governing body ponders a way to reduce the number of professional clubs from four to three.
What the WRU want is for the current four clubs to agree amongst themselves and WalesOnline understands they have been keen on the idea of Ospreys owners Y11 Sports & Media buying Cardiff.
The WRU have neither publicly denied or confirmed this.
While such a move would cause outrage amongst both sets of supporters that is the safest way the WRU can reduce the number of teams, although that may not necessarily be what is best for Cardiff given the strength of the other bidder.
What it fears is a long and drawn out legal challenge from one or more of the existing clubs which would very likely become a reality if it cannot find consensus and goes out to tender.
The final decision on the buyer of Cardiff has been postponed until the middle of January, with a consortium led by former director Martyn Ryan, which includes three Hollywood producers, one of the final two bidders.
Whoever comes out on top will have to take on a sizable amount of debt.
In the first WRU board meeting of the year the executive will have to decide whether to start a tendering process on the three licences.
If the WRU does decide to put the licences out to tender then there will first need to be another consultation process so that all parties can agree on the criteria in order to make it legally binding.
Then it will be up to the interested parties to put their best case forward.
But the WRU will need to be squeaky clean because if they are not a successful legal challenge could bring the whole pack of cards crashing down.
But it is not just the number of teams and which one goes which that they have to decide.
The WRU is demanding almost complete control of all rugby at the three remaining professional clubs, but still require benefactors to pour millions of their own cash in.
This is unacceptable to the existing benefactors within the professional game and they are not going to back down.
On top of this the Super Rygbi Cymru clubs strongly oppose the WRU’s request to appoint all coaching and backroom staff at the 10 clubs.
The idea for central control is largely the idea of the WRU’s director of rugby and elite performance Dave Reddin who is not going to be winning any popularity contests anytime soon.
But Reddin is no fool and despite the passionate tribalism towards each club there are large parts of his plan that could improve Welsh rugby.
His plan for a national academy, provided it sits above individual regional academies, is supported by large sections of the professional game – even if his initial idea of having each academy player from all three remaining clubs training out of one national centre has been pilloried by the pro clubs.
Reddin’s plan for a far more elitist approach to the pathway which will receive significantly more investment has huge merit.
His desire to cut down to three clubs has understandably touched a nerve but Wales cannot service four professional sides any longer, so whether it is Reddin or somebody else, a reduction is inevitable sooner or later.
The WRU does need to re-evaluate how it spends its money and what its priorities are but even if it does this it is unlikely to be able to afford four strong professional teams.
Wales isn’t Ireland with its impressive private schools system, hugely generous tax breaks for professional athletes upon retirement or the phenomenal support it gets from the Irish Government.
The WRU turns over more than the IRFU but it has higher costs as its accounts include the costs for hospitality (eg each pint bought for sale) and all stadium refurbishment costs, whereas the IRFU’s stadium deal with the FAI means it doesn’t directly carry these costs.
But Reddin’s potential undoing is the fact that the WRU cannot afford to fund the professional game all by itself.
It needs the support of benefactors – all of whom have huge emotional ties to their respective regions – more than ever.
If the WRU want total control then it should pay for all of the professional game but it is currently not in a position to do that.
Understandably these benefactors will not cease control of the rugby side of the business and why should they if they are ploughing in millions of pounds?
There needs to be an acceptance that each professional side has its own culture, identity and way of playing the game.
The money men do not want to see this diluted with one senior member at one of the current four professional clubs describing Reddin’s initial ‘optimal solution’ at a recent fans forum as “abhorrent to us.”
It is very much a case of who blinks first and if Reddin does not concede some ground then there is a strong possibility he will have to leave the WRU.
Currently, it is extremely difficult to see a new future for the professional game in Wales with Reddin at the helm.
There is also something else brewing in the background.
WalesOnline have been told an extraordinary general meeting of the WRU could be called early in the new year.
To do this it only requires 10% of community clubs to request it.
Were this to happen then a vote of no confidence in the likes of Collier-Keywood could be on the table, although it would require a majority of clubs to vote in favour of such a resolution for it to become a reality.
Last month this journalist sat through the AGM where, apart from one question from a Mumbles RFC representative, the clubs passed up on the opportunity to hold the executive to account on its plans for the professional game.
On the evidence of that it would be a surprise if they went against the current chair but stranger things have happened.
Welsh rugby could be in for a much bumpier ride in 2026 than the past 12 months but by the end of it the fabric of the game in Wales could be changed forever – for better or for worse.