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Former World Rugby referee Nigel Owens has his say on the WRU’s proposals to cut the number of professional teams in Wales from four to three
It’s no surprise whatsoever to see the reaction to the news around Y11 and their proposed takeover of Cardiff Rugby, from the public right across Wales really.
The sad thing is that there’s understandably been a huge amount of reaction, and it’s a shame we don’t get this amount of people through the turnstiles to watch the games and fill the stadiums. That’s arguably the underlying problem of where we are today.
I think you need to stop and think about the bigger picture about why the stadiums aren’t full and why we haven’t got our best talents playing for the regional sides.
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I don’t agree there’s not enough talent for four regions. There’s a large number of Welsh players playing outside of Wales now.
There might not be as much talent coming through as there used to be, but the talent is there, for me.
I think the problem isn’t the number of regions. I think the problem is the foundations aren’t right. It’s what I’ve said before.
The academy structure, at the moment, is not fit for purpose and not churning out the players.
Too many upcoming young players are just not coming through the academy structure.
You can talk about the number of regions until the cows come home. But unless you get the foundations right with young players coming through then it doesn’t matter how many teams you have.
You can never build a skyscraper on the foundations of a bungalow.
Much of the talk is obviously about the Ospreys at the moment and you cannot exclude an area including Swansea, Aberavon, Neath and Bridgend, which are all huge traditional rugby towns with lots of history in producing some of the best players we’ve ever had.
There are, of course, other areas in Wales where there are hugely talented players as well, including the valleys, and my personal view is there’s enough talent for four sides.
But for some reason, we haven’t got the system right in terms of churning those players out.
I’ve always said it needs to start in schools. When kids are in school you have an audience. So you’ve got to get that right and get these young players into the system.
If you get that right, I’m pretty confident there would be enough players for four regions.
I remember refereeing in Ireland many years ago, and the big talk back then was that the IRFU were going to get rid of Connacht.
There was a huge uproar in Ireland about it at the time and they backed down, because it was decided that actually there was enough talent and resource for four regional sides.
In my personal view, and this is just my personal view, I think they should keep it at four.
But they need to get the structure right. The way regions become successful is by having the best players, filling the stadiums, and of course, eventually, success on the field.
There’s been a lot of lows recently in Welsh rugby, but I don’t remember the public mood being so despondent and low as it is now.
The worrying thing for me, with the Six Nations just around the corner, when you talk to people, is that so many are so low that they’re losing interest in the game. Walking away from the game altogether in some cases, and not going to the stadiums like they used to.
The URC throws up some great games, but the sides that turn up to Swansea or to Parc y Scarlets aren’t going to generate the same level of interest as they would if Bath were coming, or Gloucester, or Leicester.
When it’s 8pm or 7.30pm it’s also difficult for some families to get down to the game, as opposed to a Saturday afternoon.
So there’s a lot of reasons that contribute to where we are.
But at the end of the day if you have a regional team that has your best players in it and has success, then no matter what time the kick-off is, those stadiums will fill.
The same goes for the national team. Wales for the last couple of years have found it difficult to sell out the stadium for the Six Nations games, which aside from the odd Italy game was previously unheard of a few years ago.
It’s not a phenomenon that’s necessarily unique to Wales, though. I remember refereeing in France when they were at their lowest around 2012 or 13. There were games in Paris that weren’t selling out.
Tradition of success brings crowds in, but there are a lot of things that are contributing to the sombre mood around Welsh rugby at the moment.
People are fed up and something has to change.
Some think cutting the regions is the answer. I don’t.
