The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) is poised to activate the notice period on the Professional Rugby Agreement 2025 (PRA 25) for Cardiff and the Dragons, while offering the Ospreys and Scarlets two-year deals. This move would open the door to a controversial reduction from four professional teams to three by 2028.
PRA 25 runs until 2030 but includes a two-year notice to termination clause. Under the plan, the Ospreys and Scarlets have been offered a two-year version of PRA 25 expiring in 2028. Once they sign, the WRU will invoke the two-year notice on Cardiff and the Dragons before striking a new deal for three teams.
The WRU remains determined to cut down to three teams, with licences centred on east, central and west Wales. Talks regarding signing the PRA have dragged on, with a major obstacle being the minimum-spend provision. Until the two west Wales teams sign, clubs face difficulties committing to recruitment plans for next season.
If consensus is not reached within the next couple of months, the WRU is likely to go out to tender, with an independent panel set up to assess applications. The WRU would need to avoid legal challenges, particularly as Cardiff, owned by the union, is expected to be one of the three teams.
A consensual reduction would require one team to fold or two to merge, but no public indications of either have emerged. The collapse of the Ospreys owners' bid to buy Cardiff earlier this year has complicated the WRU's plan, and the union now has no intention of selling Cardiff in the foreseeable future.
Attention has also turned to succession planning at the WRU, with independent non-executive directors Andrew Williams and Amanda Bennett among the leading contenders to become the union's next chair. Current chair Richard Collier-Keywood is to step down next month. The union has said it intends to outline the path forward for its three-team plan by the end of this month.
