WHAT NOW FOR WALES AS PAIR

THE future of professional rugby in Wales is extremely uncertain after both the Ospreys and Scarlets refused to sign the new Professional Rugby Agreement.

- STEFFAN THOMAS Rugby correspondent [e-mail]

As a result, the Welsh Rugby Union issued a two-year notice on the old PRA which both clubs will remain on next season after Cardiff and the Dragons signed the new agreement.

Next season there will be a tiered funding model with Cardiff and the Dragons receiving more WRU payments than the west Wales clubs.

But the long-term future of the professional game in Wales is up in the air with the WRU hoping to put a firm plan in place by September.

The WRU are adamant the new PRA is off the table for both the Ospreys and Scarlets.

In the new PRA, all four clubs were to see an increase in funding, would be funded equally, while the WRU would transfer their debts acquired during Covid onto its own balance sheet.

But after the west Wales clubs refused to sign it after failing to meet the WRU's deadline, the governing body announced it would call in the two-year notice period on the old PRA and insisted it would no longer fund the four professional clubs equally.

If the WRU were to go back, it would prove to be an extraordinary U-turn and the leadership of the governing body would be questioned.

But might a public outcry and pressure from politicians within the Ospreys and Scarlets regions force the WRU to reconsider its position?

Nothing is out of the question but it does seem highly unlikely as things stand.

Financially things have changed, with the WRU now requiring the funding directors at the professional clubs to contribute £41m over five years as opposed to the £22m it initially asked.

It had also hoped to secure what would have been a lucrative Anglo-Welsh conference if PRL had combined with the United Rugby Championship.

The poor performance of the men's national side has also hit the WRU hard, while national insurance contributions have risen and media rights are down.