North Wales rugby leaders have called on the Welsh Government to intervene over the future of Rygbi Gogledd Cymru (RGC), warning that the semi-professional Super Rygbi Cymru club could become unviable.
In a letter to the First Minister of Wales, Rhun ap Iorwerth, North Wales Rugby Council chairman Haydn Owen says the Welsh Rugby Union has brought forward the deadline for RGC to become a standalone organisation to January 1, 2027, without proper consultation.
Standalone move raises viability concerns
The council warns that becoming independent would bring substantial additional costs at a time when RGC says existing support structures have already been reduced. In April 2025, the WRU announced plans to move the region's senior team into a standalone legal entity, saying the move would help unlock independent grant funding and private investment.
RGC was once funded to the same levels as the four regional academies in south Wales, but the WRU will not do this in the same way any more. The governing body insists funding is not being removed from the region, but is being "restructured", and says it remains fully committed to rugby in the area and is set to meet bosses in the coming days.
Council demands independent investigation
North Wales Rugby Council says the move is the latest blow to rugby in a region that has suffered years of cuts to its development structures, academy and grassroots support. The council is now demanding an independent investigation and wants the January deadline suspended, saying the timetable has been accelerated because of financial pressures within the WRU.
Mr Owen says the change has come "out of the blue" and without proper consultation, despite the potentially significant consequences for the team and the wider rugby community. The letter reads: "Despite initial delays and hard-won concessions, such as preserving a scaled-down Senior Academy, the Union has accelerated its timeline to separate RGC’s senior team into an independent legal entity by January 2027."
It adds: "Transitioning away from centralised WRU operational support introduces steep new overheads, leaving the organisation dependent on aggressive commercial growth or drastic budget cuts. Driven by the Union's overarching financial pressures, these enforced proposals have raised severe viability concerns and deep anxiety that RGC could effectively cease to exist as a region."
Impact on pathway and young players
RGC has been at the centre of the north Wales rugby pathway since being established as part of the region’s Development Region structure. The council says the consequences could be felt by players, coaches, supporters, sponsors and Conwy County Borough Council, which operates Parc Erias, with the dispute going far beyond the future of the senior team.
North Wales Rugby Council says the region has endured three years of declining support following the dismantling of its former development region status. It claims the senior academy has been significantly reduced and that 19 local hub officer positions have been lost.
The council estimates that the disappearance of those officers has removed around £200,000 of outside investment from the local game, while it also fears the loss of local provision is creating difficulties for young players. One recent example cited by the council involved players travelling to the WRU's Centre of Excellence at the Vale of Glamorgan for a 4pm training session and not arriving home until after midnight, raising questions about safeguarding and equal opportunities for young players in north Wales.
The council also points to the region’s record of producing talent, particularly in women’s rugby, where six members of the Wales senior women’s squad are from north Wales, while north and mid Wales are also strongly represented in the Wales U18s women’s squad.
Call for review and WRU response
North Wales Rugby Council is now asking the Welsh Government to commission an independent review of WRU governance, regional strategy and its handling of RGC. It also wants an audit of public funding received by the WRU and for ministers to consider whether the January deadline should be suspended.
The council is calling for guaranteed financial and operational support during any transition, together with a new strategic plan for North and Mid Wales rugby developed with local stakeholders. It says a similar strategic exercise carried out around 20 years ago eventually contributed to the creation of the Development Region and the establishment of RGC.
The letter states: "The Union frequently hides behind its flagship One Wales Strategy, claiming it fosters a unified, inclusive ecosystem that preserves Welsh heritage, supports the Welsh language, and ensures equal opportunity for every aspiring player. Instigating the erasure of rugby in this key region does not fit into the One Wales Strategy, it directly contradicts it."
It adds: "Effectively cancelling a region that represents one-half of the nation’s landmass exposes this strategy as a complete sham. Stripping a major geographical region of its pathway, representative fixtures, and developmental staff makes a total mockery of the strategy and turns it into an absolute joke. You cannot claim to build 'One Wales' while systematically severing North Wales from the elite game, abandoning its Welsh-speaking heartland, and shutting the door on its young talent."
The dispute comes as the Welsh Government promotes its wider ambitions for culture and sport through its Unlocking Wales’ Potential initiative. North Wales Rugby Council says the future of RGC should therefore be seen as more than a dispute about one rugby team, and it is a question of whether young players in north Wales will continue to have a clear route into the professional game.
Up until recently, Parc Eirias in Colwyn Bay was the home of Wales U20s before the WRU decided to move the games back to south Wales. A WRU statement said: "North Wales rugby matters hugely to the future of the game in Wales, and we want to be clear about our continued commitment to the region.
"As part of its strategic review, the Welsh Rugby Union concluded that Rygbi Gogledd Cymru (RGC) would move to a new funding model, aligning it with all other clubs in Super Rygbi Cymru. This is about consistency across the league, not a reduction in our commitment to north Wales. Funding is not being removed from the region, it is being restructured.
"This process is ongoing, with a clear determination to complete the transition as soon as possible. The north Wales development region retains its importance to Welsh rugby, illustrated by the continuation of a pathway presence in north Wales delivered through men’s and women’s Player Development Centres.
"Senior WRU representatives will be in north Wales this week, and over the next few weeks, meeting with community clubs and the North Wales Rugby Council. The planned timeline for the proposed transition will be a central point of discussion in those meetings."
