The Welsh Rugby Union must make securing a place in England's revamped structure its top priority amid all the current controversy, according to rugby correspondent Steffan Thomas.
Current debate over team reduction
The vast majority of the debate surrounding Welsh rugby's current predicament has focused on one deeply unpopular proposal; the Welsh Rugby Union's demand to reduce the number of professional teams from four to three. The idea has met fierce opposition. The WRU, however, insists that cutting a team is a financial necessity.
But three Welsh teams in the United Rugby Championship would be no solution for Welsh rugby. If anything, it could accelerate its decline. There is a strong argument that the professional game will simply wither away in the URC, a competition which has never captured the imagination of the Welsh public.
The case for an Anglo-Welsh competition
This is not a new argument. The question of where Welsh rugby belongs has been raging ever since the game turned professional in 1995. But perhaps the time has come to accept that the answer does not lie in trying to make the current system work. If Welsh rugby is to have a healthy and sustainable future, its best hope may lie in an Anglo-Welsh competition.
Of course, it is easier said than done. There are considerable obstacles standing in Wales' way. The Gallagher Premiership is looking to expand and, on the face of it, that should offer Wales an opening. But the potential return of London Irish or Wasps would immediately complicate matters, providing the Premiership with two English options before the Welsh case is even considered.
More importantly, it appears Premiership Rugby would only entertain the prospect of two Welsh clubs joining the competition, rather than three or four. That creates a particularly difficult equation for the WRU. It is struggling to make the finances work with four teams and is now pushing for a reduction to three. To get even two Welsh clubs into the Premiership, every PRL club would have to vote in favour of their admission, while every shareholder in the URC would have to agree to Wales' departure.
Financial and political hurdles
Then there is the cost. A Premiership P share is understood to be worth around £12 million per club. Those are huge hurdles. There is no disguising that. But the alternative has to be considered too. For all the complications involved in securing a place in the Premiership, it is increasingly difficult to see how Welsh rugby can ever thrive in the URC. The greater risk is that Welsh rugby remains in the URC and continues on its current trajectory.
Welsh rugby is tribal by nature, and there is little doubt that the vast majority of supporters in Wales would relish regular fixtures against English clubs. Those are the rivalries that matter to supporters, and there is a compelling argument that this is where Welsh professional rugby belongs.
Former WRU chief executive Glanmor Griffiths' decision in 1999 to turn down five places in the top two divisions of English rugby must rank among the most damaging decisions in the history of the Welsh game. Nearly three decades on, Welsh rugby is still living with the consequences.
Priority for the WRU
The current WRU hierarchy, along with its representatives on the Professional Rugby Board, should make an Anglo-Welsh competition its number one priority. It will not be easy, and there are enormous financial and political obstacles in the way. But if the alternative is allowing Welsh rugby to continue its slow decline in the URC, then the argument for pursuing it is overwhelming.
An Anglo-Welsh league could be the saving grace of Welsh rugby. The WRU now needs the ambition and the determination to make it happen. What is more likely to get a casual Welsh rugby supporter out on a cold, wet Friday night in November: a match against Zebre, or a full-blooded Anglo-Welsh contest against one of the West Country's traditional rivals Bath, Bristol Bears or Gloucester? The answer is obvious.
These are the fixtures that carry history and meaning. They create anticipation, generate atmosphere and give supporters a genuine reason to turn up. A game against Bath or Gloucester means something to a Welsh supporter in a way a routine URC fixture simply cannot. If Welsh rugby wants to rebuild its connection with supporters, it needs to give them games they actually care about.
Regular fixtures against English clubs would also solve one of the URC's biggest problems; the absence of away supporters. Outside Welsh derbies, travelling fans are virtually non-existent. An Anglo-Welsh competition would expose Welsh clubs to a much wider audience, boost commercial revenues and, with a league-wide salary cap, provide greater financial stability. It could also command a far more lucrative television deal than Welsh rugby currently enjoys in the URC.
Gallagher Prem teams are also far more attractive to investors, such as Red Bull buying Newcastle, Cannae Holdings buying Exeter Chiefs and Sir James Dyson investing in Bath. The WRU is in a difficult position. It has a 'forever contract' with the URC and would need an invitation to join the Gallagher Premiership. But if it is not doing everything within its power to secure that invitation, then it is failing Welsh rugby.
