WRU announce historic three-team plan at major press conference

The Welsh Rugby Union has outlined its plan to cut a Welsh region going forward following a unanimous board decision. The announcement comes hours after WalesOnline broke news of the union's intention to move to three teams by 2028 at the latest following a six-week consultation process.

During a press conference at the Principality Stadium, director of rugby Dave Reddin and chairman Richard Collier-Keywood have gone public with details of the major change.

The four current regions will remain in the short-term, but the future will look very different, with one side in the west, one in the east and one in the capital.

The WRU Board has unanimously agreed to implement "a new whole-system approach to elite rugby, designed to deliver long-term success through rugby alignment across all levels of the game and financial sustainability".

Speaking at a press conference in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, Chair of the WRU Board, Richard Collier-Keywood, said; “We have heard loud and clear from the consultation that people want a long-term fix and not a short-term patch. We have listened and we agree.

“Our decision is that the future structure of elite men’s rugby will be based on three professional men’s clubs, replacing the current four-team model, alongside two women’s elite teams.”

There will be equal funding for the three team squads starting at £6.4M and rising to £7.8M per annum. This decision reflects the need to concentrate talent: improve competitiveness, and ensure financial sustainability.

Collier-Keywood, continued: “Any change is difficult, and we have current contractual obligations to the URC and our professional clubs that we will honour in the absence of new agreements. We want to involve the URC and the owners and