Struggling Welsh rugby must see the writing on the wall

THE rock bottom for Welsh rugby continues to plunge ever deeper as two of the Principality’s four professional franchises, the Ospreys and Scarlets, refuse to sign an agreement with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) regarding a way forward.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

The Wales national team is currently sitting on a shocking record of 16 consecutive defeats and one of the major solutions put on the table is to cut one of the four teams to make three stronger sides that will have greater depth.

Understandably, nobody wants to be dissolved and the two west Wales clubs mentioned are taking legal advice. The other two Welsh United Rugby Championship teams are not an issue for the WRU - Cardiff went into liquidation earlier this year and have been adopted by the WRU, while the struggling Dragons, who finished last in the current URC, have put pen to paper.

They don't really have another choice. But the Scarlets, who are through to the URC quarter-finals, and the Ospreys are going concerns and neither wants to run the risk of ceasing to exist.