URC to support WRU decision on number of regions - Anayi

Martin Anayi was appointed managing director of the then Pro12 in August 2015 before the organisation later became the URC

United Rugby Championship (URC) chief executive Martin Anayi says his organisation will support any decision made by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) about the amount of sides in Wales.

The future of Welsh professional rugby is up for debate after Ospreys and Scarlets did not sign the Professional Rugby Agreement (PRA) with Dragons and WRU-owned Cardiff agreeing to the deal.

Cutting one of the professional sides has been mooted as one option with the WRU hoping for a long-term plan to be agreed by September.

Anayi confirmed the WRU are currently contractually obliged to provide the league with four professional teams but says they will support the governing body.

"They are a shareholder of the league and we talk to them all the time about what is best for Welsh rugby," said Anayi.

"We are there to support our shareholders and that is the WRU. While we have a contract with them, we also want the best for them and Welsh rugby.

"What we want is competitive Welsh regions. Having Welsh regions winning our league again adds to it and probably what has been missing since the Scarlets did that in 2017.

"You can see our main emphasis is getting successful regions and supporting the WRU to get that."

Following the Ospreys and Scarlets not signing the new PRA, the WRU announced they will no longer fund four regions equally and made "the difficult but necessary decision" to issue the formal two-year notice to terminate the current PRA agreement, in particular, to proceed with its debt refinancing with its bank.

The WRU say they will discuss with the four regions about the way forward after June 2027 with an "open mind to all realistic and constructive proposals".

After taking over Cardiff, the WRU outlined they would be liable for financial penalties if they did not fulfil their contractual obligations with URC.

Anayi says discussions will be held if that scenario emerges and outlined the process the league would take if Welsh rugby decided to cut a professional team.

"We would need to agree for them, as a URC board and the other shareholders, that three was the right number and that they can go to three," said Anayi.

"There would need to be an agreement. That can't be unilateral. What we're trying to do is work with the WRU to work out what do they want to do. Is there a way that all the shareholders can agree to that over what period of time?

"That's the process we're in at the moment. There has to be an agreement and managed over a period of time.

"That's because we have contracts and the integrity of the league to protect as well."

'Any changes need to be agreed and managed'

With the URC fixture list having already been released for the 2025-26 season, Anayi is not expecting any immediate changes.

"The WRU is our guarantor of our teams," said Anayi.

"There is no sort of issue with it happening tomorrow. Any movements with the number of teams needs to be agreed by everybody and will be planned. We won't see teams suddenly dropping out.

"The positive about having a Union ownership group is unions are there to stand over those teams, to support those teams for as long as we both collectively want them there.

"If there is a movement for less teams in Wales as requested and directed by the WRU, we can support that.

"It can be managed over a period of time, it won't be instant."