Cardiff Blues remain concerned about financial future
- Published
Cardiff Blues chief executive Richard Holland believes the vast majority of supporters will back the move to rebrand the organisation to Cardiff Rugby for the 2021-22 season
Cardiff Blues say they remain concerned about the financial future as they face paying back a £5m loan.
The organisation has announced they will officially be rebranding to Cardiff Rugby from 1 August, 2021.
Surviving the last year has been the initial challenge with NatWest Bank providing a commercial loan to the four Welsh professional sides.
"I am concerned, I would be misleading everybody if I said I wasn't," said Cardiff Blues chairman Alun Jones.
"There are positive dialogues on whether the Welsh or UK Government can assist or if there are options to refinance that loan.
"There are options being considered because it's the biggest headache Welsh rugby will have, professionally at least, as it comes out of Covid and into what we hope will be some normality."
The regions and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) have an umbrella organisation to run the game's top tier - the Professional Rugby Board (PRB).
It is understood a projected £26m was allocated for the four professional sides for the 2020-21 season pre Covid-19, but that has fallen to less than £4m.
In November 2020, Wales' four professional teams agreed how they would share a £20m loan designed to help them avoid financial collapse during the pandemic.
This has since been topped up by a £13.5m Welsh Government grant which will be divided equally between the four Welsh sides and WRU, with each entity receiving £2.7m.
Of the £20m loan, Scarlets received £5.5m, Cardiff Blues and Ospreys £5m each, and Dragons £4.5m via a deal the WRU negotiated with NatWest Cymru.
Supporters have been critical of the WRU for what they see as saddling the regions with the repayment of the loan over five years, but Cardiff Blues chief executive Richard Holland insisted it was necessary at the time.
Richard Holland has been Cardiff Blues chief executive for almost 10 years
"The WRU came with a rescue package and without it, we probably wouldn't be sat here now," said Holland.
"We as regions at the time needed support and the WRU came forward with that.
"The terms associated with the loan will make it difficult for us as a business moving forward, but that's the case for our colleagues at the other regions and is recognised by PRB and WRU.
"The WRU put forward the package. Is the make-up of that package going to allow us to thrive in the next five years? No. Is it being addressed and talked about in terms of other options? Yes.
"The WRU is not sitting there trying to make it as hard as can be for the regions. Everyone is working hard for the common goal and the PRB is united in their view.
"The primary objective is to get all four sides through the pandemic and be functioning and competitive at the end of it."
The PRB might be united on financial affairs, but there is a row brewing between Cardiff Blues and Scarlets regarding the future of Dwayne Peel.
The former Wales scrum-half has signed a three-year contract to join Cardiff's coaching staff from Ulster in the summer, but has since been linked with Scarlets.
The Cardiff hierarchy has changed since news of Peel's appointment in December 2020, with Dai Young handed the interim director of rugby role until the end of the season after the departure of previous head coach John Mulvihill.
Cardiff have released a statement saying they expect Peel to honour his deal, while they are in talks with Young about his future.
"Dai is on a short-term contract at the moment and we're in dialogue on what the future holds," said Holland.
Cardiff Blues interim director of rugby Dai Young is in his second stint with the organisation after leaving to coach Wasps in 2011.
"He's doing a great job for us at the moment. Cardiff Rugby is a big part of Dai Young and he's fully supportive of what we're doing."
Cardiff lie fourth in Conference B with two matches remaining this season, against Benetton and Edinburgh, before the Rainbow Cup - with the four South African top sides - which is expected to start in mid-April.
That tournament's format will only be confirmed when a final decision is made on the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.
"We've had a proposal as to how things might look, but it's not locked in," said Holland.
"One of the main objectives of the Rainbow Cup, certainly from a South African perspective, was to prepare their players for a Lions series. Off the back of a Lions decision, you'll see a waterfall of other decisions."
Cardiff Blues remain in negotiations about extending the Arms Park lease with landlords Cardiff Athletic Club, with the current deal ending in 2022.
They are also aiming to confirm a permanent training base soon after stints using facilities at Pentwyn leisure centre and their Arms Park ground in the last year.