Rugby

Welsh Rugby Union to drop one of its four professional sides - report

Ospreys and Dragons at risk while merger involving Scarleys is also on the cards

Major change is afoot in the Welsh professional game. Photograph: Stu Forster/Getty Images

Wed May 4 2022 - 20:45

The Welsh Rugby Union has propsed cutting its number of professional club sides from four to three, according to a report in The Times.

The change appears set to come in two years’ time, with two options currently on the table: either the disbanding of the Dragons or the Ospreys or a merge between the Ospreys and the Scarlets.

Oakwell Sports Advisory has been putting together a report for the WRU and it is understood that the recommendations stem from this. The Welsh professional rugby board will consider the options at its next meetin on May 11th.

All four Welsh club sides, Cardiff, Dragons, Scarlets and Ospreys, currently sit outisde of the URC play-off spots and have all posted losses in recent years. Crowd attendence numbers have also been steadily declining.

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The move would come as part of a wider change to the structure of Welsh rugby after the decline in performance of the club sides as well as the national team’s disappointing Six Nations campaign.