Welsh rugby is about to enter a period of further mayhem
The Welsh Rugby Union faces a new challenge over the next couple of months with an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) set to take place.
As if things couldn’t get any more complicated, 10% of clubs are believed to have put in a request to call an EGM. Over the past eight months the WRU have put plans in place to radically alter the professional game.
The most divisive part of the plan is a reduction from four to three professional clubs with significant central control.
But the proposed changes to the professional game and the public fallout has been enough for certain sections of the community game to take action.
Why is an EGM likely to take place?
What has sparked the EGM is a call to arms from the Central Glamorgan Rugby Union, which represents clubs in Neath, Port Talbot, Maesteg and Bridgend, and is one of nine districts which make up the WRU.
“The current board’s inability to define and deliver a strategy for rugby in Wales is causing reputational damage to Welsh Rugby across the World when we were once held in such high esteem,” it said in a letter sent to all WRU member clubs.
“We are concerned that the WRU are paying extortionate amounts of money to consultants who do not understand Welsh Rugby themselves when there are experienced people within Wales who understand the rugby landscape and would willingly offer their time.
“If people are paid to do a job and have to use consultants to guide them, then it begs the question if we have the right personnel in those roles.”
In layman’s terms, this is a ploy to put a stop to the WRU’s plans to restructure the professional game and to stop a reduction from four to three teams.
Also, former Wales prop Anthony Buchanan, who is heavily respected within the Welsh game, recently resigned from the WRU council and said he has no confidence in the current leadership.
What is being proposed?
There are three motions being put forward.
The first motion is a vote of no confidence in WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood and Professional Rugby Board chair Malcolm Wall. This needs a share of 50.1% of the votes to pass.
The second motion wants the WRU to hold elections for the four elected WRU council member board positions within 14 days after the EGM which again requires 50.1% of the votes to pass.
And the third motion wants to amend how the WRU district and council members are elected, but unlike the first two motions this requires a 75% share of the vote.
In the third motion there is a proposal to amend the WRU’s articles of association.
Currently article 43 (a) and (b) states that two district council members who have been elected by members in accordance with the articles shall be appointed following an election process overseen by the board of directors.
The second part of this states that the two national council members are also elected by members and are overseen by the board.
But there are proposals to change this so that any four elected council members, which includes the chair of the Community Game Board, will be appointed following an election process overseen by the board of directors.
These changes could mean there is a greater probability that more district council members are elected to the board which could mean fewer women.
Currently, John Manders and Clare Donavan are national council members. They were both elected under the current council as national council members.
Chris Jones and Colin Wilkes are both district council members on the board.
Under the new proposal all four of them could be district council members whereas currently you need two of both.
What alternative plan has been proposed?
According to a letter from the Central Glamorgan Rugby Union, it has put forward alternative plans for the game in Wales.
These have no mandatory standing in terms of the constitution and are purely advisory. In other words they cannot be enforced as things stand because the power lies with the board of directors.
These include:
- Put an immediate hold on the plans to amend the structure of the professional game, with a full review of WRU finances and organisation structure to be undertaken to identify where money can be saved (executive/board salaries, consultants) to fully support the professional, SRC and community game in Wales.
- A rugby steering group to be set up within six weeks comprising of people from the professional, SRC and community game, along with the business sector. This group (male and female) will be directed to advise on rugby-related matters and thus negates the need for expensive consultants.
- A Central National Academy to be set up within three months to be totally responsible for the identification and development of talent for male and female players.
- Except for the WRU CEO, WRU Chairperson and Professional Rugby Board Chairperson, no Directors (INED’s, WRU Council Members) should be paid.
- The newly-appointed WRU chairperson and PRB chairperson should be immersed in Welsh culture and have a strong understanding of Welsh rugby and values and ideally be conversant in the Welsh language and live in Wales.
There are concerns that key members of the executive all live in England and do not truly know Welsh rugby and its culture.
But on the other hand would a rugby steering group made up exclusively of individuals from the Welsh game be prepared to propose the radical changes that are necessary, because they would only be advisory?
Also, while a national academy has been mooted as part of Dave Reddin’s plan, it is often used as a generic term to describe Welsh rugby pathway between 2005-13.
This term is often bandied around, but there is very little meat on the bones and I am unconvinced people really understand what it means.
It is completely unrealistic to set up such a system in the space of three months.
What are the potential consequences if the motions are successful?
To begin with the WRU chair Collier-Keywood and PRB chair Malcolm Wall would be removed but this would likely set off a whole new chain of events.
Were this to happen then the radical plans to restructure the professional game would be put on hold. But while the intention would be to put a halt on the chaos which has engulfed Welsh rugby, it would arguably throw the game into even more uncertainty.
The WRU chair would be removed either on the eve of the Six Nations or during the championship, which is a distraction the players don’t need.
A new chair may want to appoint different people within the executive, so the positions of CEO Abi Tierney along with director of rugby and elite performance Dave Reddin could be thrown into doubt.
The WRU has said if it cannot find consensus on reducing to three teams then it will go out to tender early this year, but it is hard to see that happening with an EGM around the corner.
There is a reason the WRU are proposing such radical changes and that is because the professional game has been struggling badly for a number of years.
The four professional clubs – Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets – have struggled to compete at the cutting edge of both the URC and Europe, while the men’s national side have picked up back-to-back wooden spoons in the Six Nations.
While the current plans are extremely divisive and will see one of the current four professional clubs become extinct, no change should not be an option.
If four teams are retained, they must find a way of funding them to a level which gives them a realistic opportunity of competing for silverware in the future. But what needs fixing above all else is the pathway.
This would mean the WRU would need to review its current spending and change it significantly.
But what needs fixing above all is the pathway.
To create a pathway which can produce a sufficient level of high-end international class players to service four professional teams will require significant investment.
The current regime claims they cannot afford to do that while also sustaining four teams.
While stopping the current plans may feel like a short-term victory for some, it is highly likely Welsh rugby will be back in a similar situation in a few years’ time due to the harsh economic realities facing the game in Wales.
The WRU are also in the process of selling Cardiff Rugby and are down to the final two bidders.
While an EGM doesn’t necessarily put a stop to the WRU’s plans for Cardiff, it will certainly delay it.
Also, the clubs do not have the power to appoint the chair. They can make suggestions and recommendations but ultimately it is only the board that has the power to appoint a new chair.