Cutting number of regions still 'an option' - WRU

Executive director of rugby Nigel Walker confirmed the WRU backs Wales boss Warren Gatland to improve results

Cutting the number of regions from four to three is still a possibility, the Welsh Rugby Union has revealed.

Executive director of rugby Nigel Walker said the governing body hopes to offer Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets an "uplift" in funding in coming years.

And he set a target annual budget of £5.5m to £6m to make each of the four competitive.

But he questioned whether the global professional game is "sustainable as it is right now" and admitted reducing the number of regions in Wales remains "on the table".

Walker added Wales head coach Warren Gatland has the WRU's full backing, he hinted the governing body may review participation in the United Rugby Championship (URC) after the current agreement and said talks were underway to avoid losing another Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to England.

Walker was speaking to Scrum V at the tail end of one of the worst seasons in Welsh rugby history.

Wales senior men and women's teams finished bottom of their respective Six Nations.

Only Ospreys have a slim chance of finishing in the top half of the URC and if they fail to do so, Wales for the first time will not be represented in the Champions Cup next season with Cardiff's Principality Stadium hosting the final next May.

"It's been a tough season on and off the field," said Walker.

"This time last year I said it was going to be tough for a couple of years but it's not all doom and gloom.

"There are some shoots, particularly some of the Ospreys' performances, but they have been too few and far between."

Should four become three?

Scarlets and Ospreys have previously come close to a merger

All four regions have suffered an exodus of players in the past 12 months after budgets were slashed from £7.2m to £5.5m for the current season and will be cut further to £4.5m for the the 2024-25 campaign.

That prompted former British & Irish Lions centre Tom Shanklin to predict Welsh rugby will get worse before it gets better.

"I don't agree with Tom, I don't think things will get worse," said Walker.

"The WRU and regions are making progress. We're not going to find £10m or £20m over the next year or two but we should find some uplift which I believe will make the regions competitive over the six-year framework."

Walker ruled out potentially focussing funding on selected regions.

However, it has been a moot point as to whether or not Welsh rugby can continue to sustain four professional clubs, either financially or player-wise.

"It has got to be an option which will be considered and discussed," said Walker.

"Which way we go on that has yet to be determined but of course, reducing to three regions has to be on the table. But that doesn't mean we will."

The WRU and all four regions have posted losses for the most recent financial year.

Gatland has WRU backing

Gatland offered his resignation in the immediate aftermath of the loss to Italy that condemned Wales to a first Wooden Spoon for 20 years.

Wales are now ranked 10th in the world with world champions South Africa and a two-Test tour of Australia to come this summer.

"Warren is a very experienced coach, a winning coach. He said this is the toughest year he's ever had but he was dealt a bad hand," said Walker.

"He took the decision to blood a number of youngsters at the same time and that means experiencing a bit of pain.

"But we all expect results to improve over the next 12 to 18 months."

Walker added: "Yes, professional sport is about winning but you have to go through a process to win and we're going through that.

"There's a conveyer belt of talent that then have to be coached well and in an environment to succeed.

"We're confident we can put those things in place to allow Warren to produce a winning team."

Mistakes over Feyi-Waboso

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was born in Cardiff but opted to play for England

The WRU has already announced plans to ramp up its exile programme in a "battle" to both identify and retain Welsh-qualified players.

Of particular concern is the number of young players being lost to England after moving schools or universities across the Severn Bridge.

It follows high-profile losses, including Cardiff-born Immanuel Feyi-Waboso who made his senior England debut in this year's Six Nations, having moved to Exeter to study medicine.

"Of course we could have done more," said Walker.

"Education was the big thing for Immanuel and I've [since] met with Cardiff University.

"We should have provided more support when he went to his [entrance] interview at Cardiff. Once he had gone across the border, the die was cast.

"Conversations did take place but it was too late.

"He should have had support at the time of the interview but he didn't. It's not on him, it's on us but we have changed our policies and processes to make it more difficult for the next Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to go to [England] and not come back."

Review of women's game

After the runaway success of 2023 when Wales posted a second successive third-place finish in the Six Nations, beat USA for the first time and qualified for WXV1, Wales Women have been brought crashing back down to earth.

Wales finished bottom of the Six Nations and only avoided a whitewash thanks to Sisilia Tuipulotu's last gasp try against Italy in the final game.

This is despite the expansion of professional contracts to now include 32 players.

A review of Ioan Cunningham's team's performance in the tournament is underway, though focus will be on the WXV2 play-off against Spain on 29 June.

"It has been disappointing but we have to remember how far this team has come and where they were just two years ago," said Walker.

The Celtic Challenge is to be expanded next season, played between January and March, but now WRU board member and former Wales player Amanda Bennett is leading a steering group looking at another domestic competition to run between September and December.

Walker said: "The standard will be lower than we will want it to be at the start but we need a competition that has a chance of attracting those players sat on the bench or just training with top clubs in England to a viable option back in Wales."