By Alex Bywater
The Welsh Rugby Union has been urged to throw its hat into the ring and bid to host next season’s Guinness Pro 14 final at the Principality Stadium.
Martin Anayi, the Pro 14 chief executive, believes the home of Welsh rugby would be an ideal venue for his competition’s main event.
It is understood the WRU have opted against entering the bidding process for the final for the last two seasons and the 2018-19 campaign’s showpiece will be held at Glasgow’s Celtic Park as a result.
Asked whether he would want to take the final to Cardiff in the future, Anayi’s message couldn’t have been clearer. “We absolutely want to be in Wales for a final,” he said.
“Cardiff has been very close to hosting one, but there have been other events that have taken priority in the calendar for one reason or another.
“We have a great relationship with the WRU. We’ve had their commercial director in for all our meetings and everybody is in the same room working out the details.
“It’s questions about those details that we need to answer, rather than do we want to be in Cardiff. Once we iron those out, we’ll be there and be there with bells on.”
Since it was opened in June 1999, the Principality Stadium has established itself as one of the best sporting venues in the world.
The WRU-owned site is the home for Wales’ home rugby union Tests, but has also been used for European rugby finals, the 2012 Olympics, and football’s 2017 Champions League final.
Boxing, speedway and monster trucks have also graced the site as well as numerous concerts, but the Pro 14 final hasn’t been held in Cardiff since regional rugby began in 2003.
It is understood the WRU believe the significant amount of revenue raised from concerts – Ed Sheeran, Beyonce and Jay Z rocked the Welsh capital this summer – outweighs the financial benefit of hosting the Pro 14 final, for now at least.
That said, the governing body aren’t ruling out entering the bidding process in years to come.
“We really, really want a final in Cardiff to happen,” Anayi said.
“It’s a slight anomaly that it hasn’t happened yet, but the final hasn’t been in Rome and it hasn’t been in South Africa either.
“What I need to do with our team is create the right environment for these cities to bid and it has to be the right fit for the business.
“It’s got to make sense, but there are a lot of reasons why Cardiff would make sense.”
