By Mathew Davies

Copyright walesonline

We are around about halfway through the Welsh Rugby Union’s consultation period with stakeholders over the future of the game in this country. The discussions currently ongoing between the governing body and the four professional clubs, players and supporters will shape rugby in Wales for generations to come. The WRU’s optimal structure would see the number of regions reduced from four to two – you can read a full breakdown of those proposals here . There has been public pushback – from the Dragons calling for the union to change course and the Welsh Rugby Players’ Association also voicing their objections . The man charged with leading this discussion is new WRU chief Dave Reddin, who has stressed that no decision has yet been made and that all viewpoints would be taken into consideration. Reddin is currently in the middle of visiting clubs and supporter groups, listening to feedback and releasing weekly updates as to how matters are progressing. Indeed, the latest from the WRU’s director of rugby and elite performance hinted that a meeting with players had possibly swayed his thinking. “I think it’s all shaping my opinion,” said Reddin. “I learn something from every meeting I go into. “The discussions with the head coaches and directors of rugby in each of the regions have been incredibly useful. None of those meetings have been combative. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. “They’ve all been really professional and instructive. They’ve all leant into the problem we’re trying to solve here. I’ve really enjoyed it. “They have influenced my thinking in a number of areas. I’m not sitting here dogmatically saying what we’re put out there is the only way of solving this. “But what we’re engaged in is a respectful level of challenge about what are the right options. I think everyone so far agrees that we can’t just fix one bit of this system.” You can read his full views here . At the forefront of the discourse surrounding the future of the game have been a number of players from Wales’ golden generation, with many now taking roles within the media or well-placed to voice views while still playing but looking on from afar. Here is a taster of what people have said…. Former Wales wing George North now plays his rugby out in France with Provence. He believes something needs to change in order for Welsh rugby to thrive again. He questions whether having four regions is sustainable in the current climate. “It’s not been fun,” he told the BBC . “But sometimes you have to go through that to reset and refocus. With Steve Tandy coming in, we’re in good hands to push forward. It’s going to take a bit of time.” “In a perfect world we’d have four regions, but is it sustainable? Probably not,” North added. “Whether we go to two or three, we probably need a change to rejig the system and start the ball rolling again. “We have to do what’s right for Welsh rugby and get the national team back to competing at the highest level.” Former Scarlets centre Jonathan Davies believes the way forward should be three new entities – with the SRC providing fans with the heritage Welsh rugby is famed for and is so vital to supporters. “The important thing is they have to be responsive to the cultural values of Welsh rugby,” he said. “They have to understand there is the history of it and whether they can intertwine it with performance and success. We want the Welsh national team to be successful but we are extremely proud of our heritage. “They have to listen. There will be a lot of questions and if they can take them and give credible answers as to why this is the best way forward for Welsh rugby then fair enough. Credit to them for making big decisions, saying ‘this is what needs to be done’.” He added: “I’m reading into this but the cultural values might be the SRC (Super Rygbi Cymru), that’s where they see fans getting behind their local clubs. Are you going to get Dragons supporters going to watch Cardiff ? I think you have to start with two new entities and then the SRC clubs are the heritage clubs with fans coming in to support them.” Previously, Davies had said: “Personally, I think four regions is one too many. You look at what has happened in the (English) Premiership, going down to 10 teams, that makes competition for places in squads far harder, drives standards in training as a whole and the product you have had this year – some of the performances have been amazing. In Wales, having four teams allows some average players to become professional rugby players. You need to make sure there is competition and when you get that opportunity to be a pro player you need to realise how lucky you are. “I think going down a region would make the quality of the teams better.” Gareth Anscombe has never been afraid to speak his mind; currently out in France with Bayonne, the fly-half has a good perspective, looking in from a vantage point. He said he was “sick of the mess” in Welsh rugby and that he actively avoids the discourse now. He is against going down to two teams. “But I honestly think if Wales goes to two clubs, the game there will struggle to recover. It might never do,” he said. “Change is needed. But I don’t see how going to two teams will benefit Wales in the long run. I have genuine concerns about the success and longevity of Welsh rugby if that happens.’ “In 2023, the boys should have gone through with the strike threat,” he added. “One million per cent it should have happened because look at the mess we’re in now. The frustrating thing for me is we’ve had people in power who come across like they know everything. “Look at the trouble they’ve put the game in. They’ve been sacked or had their payouts and walked away. But at the time, they tried to make us players feel like idiots. “Many of those players are still in the thick of it all now. It’s so easy for those guys at the top to come across like they’re above us as players.” Former Ospreys and Wales fly-half James Hook offered up a compromise, with a three-team set-up his preferred structure. Having spoken to a colleague in Scotland, he thinks cutting just one is the way forward, while he also stressed the importance of the SRC, like Davies did. “Obviously four isn’t working at the moment,” said Hook on Scrum V’s The Warm Up . “I remember during the Six Nations , I was with Johnnie Beattie – the Scottish international. “They’ve got two. He said that four was too many but two is not enough. I think before we make rash decisions and go down to two regions, why don’t we explore three regions? “How that’s divided up and cut up, I’m not too sure to be honest with you. But at least we’d keep that geography and fanbase across the whole of Wales, rather than just cutting to an East and West as they’re proposing – with the risk of losing all that fanbase. “On top of that, we need to invest far more in schools and the younger generation to bring them through. Because this isn’t a two-year or a five-year plan, it’s a 15-year or 20-plus-year plan for future generations. “I really think we need to invest in the schools and the SRC. You talk about when I had my first cap out in Argentina, I was selected from Neath. “I hadn’t started a game for the Ospreys . Because that league, that semi-professional league, was very strong. Some of the best players were dropping down from regional rugby into that league. “So that needs to be strengthened. I know the WRU have spoken about that, but they need to back that up and go with it now.” Dan Biggar hung up his boots at the end of last season and has seamlessly moved into the world of punditry. Always an educated observer, the former No 10 believes former players are not always best placed to comment on matters they know little about in terms of off-field matters. “I’m not going to… I think they’re going to keep Cardiff , being the capital region. And then I think it generally will depend on whether they have an east and a west. I wouldn’t know who to pick because the Ospreys don’t own their stadium. The Scarlets do own their stadium,” Biggar said. He continued: “This is the one thing which has been really frustrating over the last 12 months. I’d say my expertise would lie in actual on-field stuff. I don’t know what it costs for the union to get rid of two teams. “I don’t know what the contract says about staying in the URC. This is the frustration from my end. You’re asking a lot of the ex-players’ opinions about nothing to do with rugby. “If you’re asking me who should they play at 10, who should they play at 12, what the tactics are, etc, etc, I’m happy to give an opinion. But when it comes to things like this, I don’t really understand why so many ex-players are being consulted because I don’t know any of the details of these contracts. I don’t know any of the details of the league stuff. I’m just a little bit like, let’s try and focus people’s expertise on what they know.” Former Wales skipper Sam Warburton hasn’t spoken on the situation in recent weeks but he was one of the first to suggest a major shake-up of the domestic game in Wales. Speaking six months ago, in the wake of Warren Gatland’s departure, Warburton suggested a two-plus-two model would be the way forward if four clubs remained. He did, however, suggest another model. “The other option that should be considered is merging the regions into East and West,” Warburton wrote. “I played for East Wales as a youngster against the West and was very proud to do so. If two teams are not considered enough then let’s create another region up in North Wales. “Ideally, then, those three regions would play in an Anglo-Welsh competition, but first we have to prove that we are good enough to do so. If we stay in the URC, so be it. “With three super regions, you would probably then have a group of 35 contracted players of national interest,” he added. “Anybody who’s not a player of national interest would then be dual-contracted or seconded to a club side in the Super Rygbi Cymru league. “There, we could go as tribal as we want, with all the traditional clubs in a ten-team league, and hopefully some of them could participate in the Premiership Cup in England. “It would work like the system in New Zealand, which I have always liked, where if a player is not playing Super Rugby Pacific he will then turn out in the National Provincial Championship (NPC).” Ken Owens, the former Scarlets hooker, spoke passionately about the issue through the prism of the Women’s Rugby World Cup . He was pleased that more money would be coming into the female game but was disappointed that the “nonsense” in Welsh rugby was coming to the surface at the time a global tournament was going on. ” Well, it is a positive because there’s extra investment,” said Owens about the proposals for two new women’s teams in Wales. “But it should be happening anyway, not as part of a greater plan. “Because what’s right for the women’s game may not be right for the men’s game and vice versa. “They should be standalone and the investment should be going in to create that depth for the professional teams in the women’s game. “It’s just frustrating that this has come out at the nearest thing Wales are going to have to a home World Cup. “They had a decent summer with their prep. “They should be coming in here excited to be starting their World Cup against Scotland and we’re talking about the nonsense off the field in Welsh rugby again. “It’s hugely frustrating with what’s going on. “I think the issue with all this is we’re forgetting about the cultural element of it and what effect dropping to two teams is going to have on communities across Wales. “No one’s really listening to that. I hope this consultation is actually thorough and they listen to people, we get the right thing for Welsh rugby, not copy other teams and countries. “It’s a dire state at the moment. Change needs to happen, but it’s got to happen for the best for Welsh rugby.”