Written by Oscar Reilly
The debate around the four professional Welsh clubs feels like it has been going on forever. Questions like “should there just be two clubs to compete at a higher level?” and “should the regions be more spread out?” are heard far and wide in pubs and rugby clubs across the country. But, an opportunity to amend some of these issues may have just passed the WRU by in the last few weeks.
The RFU announced this week that the Premiership would be expanding to 14 teams over the course of the next few years, with Saracens coming up this year to make it 13, and one of any number of clubs following them the year after. This may seem a far cry away from the concerns of any Welsh fans, but in fact, they may have missed a chance to join this league.
I am not privy to any information suggesting the WRU were even offered this chance, nor do I know the details of the contract they have regarding their involvement in the United Rugby Championship, or whatever they’re calling themselves this week. This is purely hypothetical.
Before we indulge this idea of an Anglo-Welsh league, let’s have a look at the recent history of the Welsh clubs in the competition formerly known as the Pro14. We only need to go back 4 seasons to find the last time a Welsh region made the final, and a season before that to find the last time a Welsh region won the competition, both times the Scarlets. It’s when we look deeper into this that the statistics become more worrying for fans of the Welsh teams. The Pro14 has been awarded to the winner of a playoff since the 2009-10 season, which means there have been semi-finals and a final played. Since there have been 12 finals, there have been 24 finalists, but only 4 of them have been Welsh, represented by the Ospreys and the Scarlets.
This might seem mundane, but it should be concerning. Wales have 4 teams, and thus 4 opportunities to make the final each year, but as we know in the last 12 seasons they have only been represented 4 times by just two of their teams. Ireland also have 4 teams, but have 17 final appearances, with 5 all-Irish encounters, and all 4 of the sides have reached the final at least once. It is currently more likely that the final will be contested between two Irish teams than it is that a Welsh team will even make it. Glasgow have managed to make 3 finals on their own, just one shy of the total of the 4 Welsh teams combined.
So the old Pro14 clearly was not optimised for Welsh success, especially in recent years. So this leaves two distinct options; firstly, combine the regions and have two, more competitive teams in the United Rugby Championship and place a greater emphasis on the Welsh Premiership, similar to an Irish model of the AIL or the New Zealand structure with the Mitre 10 Cup. Realistically, this is probably more likely than the following Anglo-Welsh alternative, but for now humour me.
For this to work, we need to assume a few more hypotheticals. Firstly, let’s assume that the standard will not be met to be included in the Premiership by any of the current Championship clubs, and there will be 13 English clubs in the top flight. Secondly, I would suggest a devolving of one of the 4 Welsh sides, probably the Dragons, and a redistribution of their players across the other 3 sides to make them more competitive. Geographically, of course, the Dragons are very close to the Cardiff Blues, and thus the Blues would inherit a lot of their resources, academy and so on. The three remaining sides would join the 13 English sides for a ring-fenced professional league of 16 teams.
This league would be extremely competitive, but with 16 teams it creates the issue of overplaying, after all, 15 games home and away along with European rugby is too much to fit into the year. Therefore the teams would play each other just once, putting more emphasis on each game.
Some people may like the idea, others may not (especially Dragons fans), and you are entitled to your opinion. To me, this idea kills two birds with one stone; it ensures that the Premiership continues to be as competitive as it has been in recent years by maintaining the standard of clubs, and it gives the Welsh regions a chance to properly compete in a league that would only strengthen the quality of Welsh rugby. Regardless of opinions, the ship has sailed, but the next time you tune in to a Welsh team taking on a plucky Zebre side, think of what could have been.
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