Dean Ryan: Dragons director of rugby dismisses plans to cut a Welsh professional team
- Published
Dean Ryan coached at Bristol, Gloucester, Worcester and Scotland before arriving at Dragons as director of rugby in 2019
Dragons director of rugby Dean Ryan insists a proposal to cut Welsh professional regions to three would be detrimental to rugby in Wales.
Ryan also said that Dragons are here to stay after the proposal to cut a Welsh region emerged in a report commissioned by the Professional Rugby Board (PRB).
If implemented, the plan could see one of Dragons, Ospreys, Scarlets or Cardiff removed from top-flight rugby.
Asked whether it was business as usual at Dragons, Ryan said: "Absolutely."
The PRB runs the professional game in Wales, with members from the four regions and Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) sitting on the board, which has Malcolm Wall as an independent chairman.
Ryan insists culling a region is not the answer for Wales.
"If you look at successful tier one and World Cup-winning sides, keeping the avenues open for a range of player development for people to experience, then that's invaluable," said the director of rugby.
"Everyone talks about models, but the challenges Italy and Scotland face aren't solved by restricted numbers.
"Statistically World Cup-winning sides have a number of sides competing at the top level and a number of avenues for players coming through.
"In any discussions I've always been a big fan of that. If you look at a financial sheet it might look better with three.
"But I don't believe that would benefit the long-term future of rugby in Wales which is already facing challenges of how to develop players through to the competitive end of the game."
Dragons are currently owned by the WRU and Ryan is also a board member of his region.
Ryan says he met Dragons chairman David Buttress on Thursday morning to seek clarity over the situation and address concern from players.
"I met with David this morning and we gave every reassurance we're heading in the same direction we've always been," he added.
"This is not a surprise and it's a report we've all seen sometime ago; when you leave a vacuum and someone gets a headline, it becomes all the headlines. That doesn't do justice to the number of things that are going on in PRB.
"Myself and David [Buttress] have been clear to the players and the staff about what's happening within the PRB and the context that doesn't get included in media reports.
"Context is everything, information is everything. We could do without these things popping up on your phone at six o'clock in the evening, but players are clear on the context of the report, the alternatives and where David's energy is taking the club."
Ryan insisted the proposal to reduce Welsh professional regions to three was just one aspect of the report that had been commissioned.
"The context is that there are lots of suggestions in PRB, but if you look at a headline then there is only one of them," he said.
"There are lots of suggestions and none of them are new. Giving players the context, you just put one out as the headline then that becomes the dominant direction of travel.
"I understand what the media do and how it works. It's the fault of the PRB and the governing body [that it's taken so long] to arrive at a strategy to move forward.
"But the context is that it's one part of a report and not fully across the conversations that are in PRB. Therefore, it's shaped thinking without context."
Ospreys players in a huddle at training as the region say they want to "remain the most successful Welsh region"
The Dragons director of rugby insists a long-term strategy needs to be implemented.
"Aren't we all weary of not having a strategy?" asked Ryan.
"I think that nips everything in the bud if someone gave a clear direction of travel and the direction Wales and the regions are going.
"This isn't weeks waiting for a strategy, it's years.
"I'm sometimes scratching my head at the amount of time that it's gone on.
"Every country goes into a different phase, having lived through England, some of it wasn't particularly pleasant and it's not necessarily the perfect model either.
"At some point, we have to reach a point where we're trying to work forward.
"The frustration at us not arriving at a collective integrated strategy is that we can't move forward. We just feel like we're sitting in the same space.
"Sometimes, comparisons with other countries can be helpful, to look at different models.
"If this is Wales' time to go through a period, it has to get to a point where everyone is working towards something. That's where most of the frustration sits, how long it's gone on.
"It's not acceptable and at some stage we have to reach a moment where we decide how it's going to move forward for the next 10 years.
"It's for the four regions and the governing body to come up with an integrated strategy, not for people to come up with things in isolation.
"That's clearly causing some problems because they haven't be able to arrive at that.
"It's not acceptable to carry on in the way that we are. Let's keep our fingers crossed that we are moving closer to something."
Ospreys have also responded to the report that was conducted by consultants Oakwell Sports Advisory and say they are looking forward to a successful future.
An Ospreys statement read: "Ospreys have been working closely and collaboratively as a member of the Professional Rugby Board (PRB) to devise a strategy that will ensure sustainability and raise performance across the professional game in Wales.
"As part of this process the PRB has commissioned research from a number of sources, including Oakwell, to ensure the strategy is informed by deep and independent insight. This research will inform, but not dictate the strategy.
"We remain bullish about the future of rugby in Wales and look forward to further success and Ospreys to remain the most successful Welsh region."
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