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A significant hurdle in going down to three sides could soon be removed for the WRU
The United Rugby Championship has given the Welsh Rugby Union permission to reduce to three teams as it targets an expansion into London, WalesOnline has learnt.
Welsh rugby is engulfed in chaos with the WRU attempting to reduce the number of professional teams in Wales from four to three. On top of this, it is in the process of selling Cardiff Rugby while the threat of an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) is looming large.
One significant barrier to reducing to three teams in the short-term was the fact the WRU are committed to enter four sides into the URC.
Initially the URC’s plan was to introduce a team from the US in a big money move, but this was blocked by the South African Rugby Union, who are now full shareholders.
In an interview in November, WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood revealed the governing body were seriously considering cutting to three teams but entering a Super Rygbi Cymru club into the URC to fulfil their contractual obligations in the short-term.
But WalesOnline understands the WRU were given permission to go to three teams in a URC board meeting last week, with the competition targeting a team based in London to replace the culled Welsh team. The Ospreys and Scarlets are the two teams in the firing line after the WRU declared there will only be one team based in west Wales going forward.
London Irish and Ealing Trailfinders are the two options that have been mooted to step in.
Famous English club London Irish entered administration in March 2023 but were eventually saved by a consortium who were led by the late former Formula 1 team owner and businessman Eddie Jordan.
But after entering administration they were forced to withdraw from the Gallagher Prem and their ambition is to jump straight into another top flight competition.
However, PRL have an agreement with Championship clubs that teams cannot come straight back into the Prem which would make the URC an attractive proposition for them. As for Ealing, they have long been a strong force in the English Championship but have continually been blocked from having the chance to join the top tier due to failing to meet the league’s minimum stadium requirements. They have won all 13 of their league matches this season and are 14 points clear of their nearest rivals at the top of the table.
For either London Irish or Ealing to join the URC there are still many obstacles to overcome, though.
The first one is that such a move would need to be sanctioned by the Rugby Football Union, although there is support from the key stakeholders in the URC.
As things stand, Irish would receive no central funding from the RFU while it would be difficult to set up an academy given the England age grade sides only select players from English Prem clubs.
But even so, this is a road the URC are extremely keen to pursue, although London Irish would also be interested in joining an expanded franchise Gallagher Prem.
If Irish or Ealing were to join the URC it would solve one problem for the WRU executive.
