imminent decision in Wales for good

THE Welsh Rugby Union will unveil this summer the roadmap behind its controversial plan to reduce the professional game in Wales from four professional clubs to three by 2028.

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While the WRU has agreed to preserve the current structure in the short term, a firm determination remains within the governing body to move towards a three-team model.

The proposed takeover of Cardiff by Ospreys owners Y11 Sports & Media had offered one possible route to three teams before that deal fell apart.

Attention is now turning to how the WRU intends to deliver such a significant restructuring.

Among the options under consideration is a tender process for three professional licences - covering East, Central and West Wales - which would effectively redraw the regional landscape. But what are the advantages and risks of reducing Wales to three professional teams, and does a credible alternative to the WRU's strategy still exist?

POSITIVES

THE latter stages of the Investec Champions Cup, culminating in Bordeaux's emphatic dismantling of Leinster in the final, served as a stark reminder of just how far Welsh rugby has fallen behind Europe's leading powers.

It should be an aim of the WRU for at least two Welsh sides to be able to compete and succeed in the latter stages of the Champions Cup and potentially win the United Rugby Championship in the long-run.

Realistically it is close to impossible to come anywhere close to achieving this with four equally-funded teams.

Wales head coach Steve Tandy ideally needs his players operating in winning environments and gaining regular experience of high-stakes knockout rugby at club level.

It makes preparation for the Six Nations, and for facing the leading southern hemisphere sides, considerably more difficult when the bulk of his squad is drawn from players who, more often than not, are coming out of losing environments.

In theory, a reduction to three teams would concentrate talent, increasing both jeopardy and competition for contracts and starting places.