Welsh rugby fans urge new WRU boss Abi Tierney to help ailing regions
- Published
Regions attracted big crowds over the festive period but are struggling financially
Rugby supporters in Wales are urging the Welsh Rugby Union to come to the aid of the cash-strapped regions.
Fans of Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets have written to new WRU boss Abi Tierney asking for the governing body to help "lift the financial burden" on the four sides.
They want the WRU to take over repayment of the £20m loan made to the regions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
They have also questioned the level of funding in the Welsh professional game.
The Joint Supporters Group (JSG) Cymru - who represent official supporters' groups of the four regions - have also asked for clarity over previous funding given to Dragons.
In the open letter to Tierney, sent on her first day in the job, the fans' group acknowledged implementing the findings of the report into sexism and misogyny would "rightly" be top of her list priorities.
But they added: "We urge you to act with equal haste to address the financial situation all four [regions] have been left in."
Wales' four leading sides have been powerless to prevent an exodus of playing talent from Wales over the past 12 months, with each region's funding cut from £7.2m to £5.2m and a further reduction to £4.5m coming for the 2024-25 campaign.
Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams is just the latest player to leave having agreed to join Gloucester from Cardiff next season.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
In particular, JSG Cymru want the WRU to take over responsibility for repaying the £20m Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) it negotiated to save the regions from bankruptcy during the pandemic.
The Welsh government stepped in to assume responsibility as the body lending the money.
The WRU initially renegotiated the loan terms so regions would repay the sum over 20 years, rather than five years but those terms have been altered again with the payments expected by 2029.
However, JSG Cymru have accused the Senedd of "profiteering", saying the interest rate is far higher than that being paid back for similar loans by clubs in England, Scotland and Ireland.
"Clubs in Wales have made significant cuts to their cost base and are still struggling to survive due to the burden of repaying the loan at 8.25%, well above the 2% rates elsewhere," they wrote.
"We believe the WRU urgently need to challenge this profiteering from Welsh government and, as a minimum, renegotiate terms in line with our English counterparts."
Fans compared the level of funding to the professional game with that in Scotland and called for fewer budgets cuts.
They also demanded clarity over funding to Dragons while the WRU owned the Newport-based region between 2017 and 2023, and questioned whether the other regions should have received similar help.
However, Dragons supporters have since distanced themselves, external from that point, following a "misunderstanding and additional information".
The Welsh government said the loan taken by the WRU was taken at a variable rate of interest, rather than a fixed rate, so repayments are based on the Bank of England's base rate, which will fluctuate.
A spokesperson added: "We disagree with the suggestion that the Welsh government is profiteering as all repayments from the loan will get reinvested in public services.
"During the Covid crisis, non-repayable grants were provided by the Welsh government - with rugby (the WRU and four regions) receiving a total of £13.5m in grant support, around £2.7m each."