Gareth Davies outlined proposals to member clubs at the WRU’s Annual General Meeting  to significantly streamline and modernise the governance structure of Welsh rugby. The chairman, who was officially re-appointed as a national director for a further three year term at the AGM, has called for the WRU board to be reduced in number and for the current nine districts to be more geographically aligned.

Wayne Pivac reckons the Scarlets have given their Champions Cup challenge a huge boost with the victory in the West Wales derby. Pivac’s men get their European campaign underway at former champions Toulon next Sunday.

The Welsh Rugby Union have delivered their annual report, so what’s between the lines and the figures? Geraint Powell digs behind the summaries of those in charge for clues about where Welsh rugby is heading. Every January – other than in the first year – the President of the United States delivers a “state of the union” address. We always get something similar – a state of their own union – from the WRU chief executive, chairman and president in their forewords to the Union’s annual report, the 2017 version of which was recently released.

Not enough time at night to sit down and read the WRU’s latest accounts and annual report from cover to cover? No, we thought not. But don’t worry because Geraint Powell has and here are his half dozen headlines. Having reviewed the latest annual report from the Welsh Rugby Union (http://www.wru.co.uk/downloads/WRU_ARA_2017_1o.pdf), these six main themes can be appreciated from the underlying 2016-17 financial and other information. For those who have not yet read it, particularly Chairmen, Secretaries and Treasurers at the constituent member clubs of the WRU, I would, as with every other year, always recommend starting with the Strategic Report prepared by Finance Director Steve Phillips (pages 14-21) before reading the statements by Chief Executive Martyn Phillips, Chairman Gareth Davies, Head of Rugby Performance Geraint John and Head of Rugby Participation Ryan Jones.  

The Lions have named their squad for their final pre-Test game, against the Chiefs on Tuesday. It includes four Welsh players on the bench who happened to be in the same country. Graham Thomas reflects on Warren Gatland’s controversial call-ups. The Lions are special. Everyone says so. People like Standard Life, Land Rover, QBE Insurance and kit manufacturers Canterbury who produce a replica match day Test jersey for £120. People like Gullivers, the tour travel specialists, who will take you all around New Zealand to follow the tour for between £3,000 and £9,000 depending on your choice of package.

England are standing by their proposal to reduce the length of the Six Nations from seven to six weeks despite widespread opposition, including from Wales. The RFU are still keen to remove one of the tournament’s two fallow weeks in an effort to create space in the calendar for the new global season which takes effect after the 2019 World Cup.

Gareth Davies has branded as “nonsense” claims the Welsh Rugby Union are asset-stripping by taking over the Newport Gwent Dragons. The WRU chairman has urged shareholders of Newport RFC to back the move, which includes the purchase of Rodney Parade.

Wales’ summer Test match against Tonga could be staged in Auckland after rugby chiefs decided to move it to another country. The decision was taken amid concerns by the Welsh Rugby Union over the Teufaiva Sport Stadium in Nuku’alofa which is being redeveloped.

Rhys Webb is set to regain his place in the Wales team when coach Rob Howley names his line-up for their Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome on Sunday. Webb has not played for his country since the first game of the autumn series against Australia and has only managed 97 minutes of rugby for the Ospreys due to an ankle injury.

hys Webb has told Wales he is ready for a comeback against Italy on the opening weekend of the Six Nations. The Ospreys scrum-half came through half a match against Bristol on Saturday, in readiness for a Test return in Rome next Sunday.

Sometimes it feels that there is only space in UK boardrooms for one star performer: the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). It certainly felt like that at the WRU during the regimes of David Moffett and Roger Lewis, with WRU Chairman David Pickering barely publicly visible at times. The CEO role is the kudos of ultimate responsibility, the big pay cheque and the lion’s share of the profile and glory, balanced somewhat by the (usually agreeably distant) spectre of dismissal if things go really pear-shaped.

As the end of a mixed year for Welsh rugby comes close, former Sport Wales chief executive Huw Jones argues Welsh rugby’s culture and internal workings still need to change if success is to be achieved in 2017. Following the summer tour to New Zealand, my old friend Gareth Davies was asked what he’d learned from the trip. The headline in WalesOnline read ‘Everyone has a pop at everybody else… WRU boss Gareth Davies slams lack of alignment in Welsh rugby’. Putting aside the emotive headline, his response was very illuminating: