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Steve Tandy’s Wales Set to Play Autumn Matches Against Background of Uncertainty

Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney, Wales head coach Steve Tandy, and Wales director of rugby Dave Reddin

Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney, Wales head coach Steve Tandy, and Wales director of rugby Dave Reddin

The raging debate over the future of Welsh rugby is set to roll on into November - but Dave Reddin insists Wales players can overcome any distraction.

 

The Welsh Rugby Union have confirmed they intend to present their findings from the consultation process to their board on October 8.

Reddin - the Union’s director of rugby - has held 31 meetings with various stakeholders, seeking to convince them the domestic structure should see a reduction in the number of professional teams from four to just two.

Most of those meetings, he insists, have been positive in nature but the fact is the overwhelming comment in public - from current players, former players, and the regions themselves - has been a rejection of the two-team proposal.

The other plans on the table are to move to three teams, or stick with four teams but with unequal funding.

Reddin gave a media briefing on Thursday at which he admitted the weight of information gathered would  likely mean no decisions will be reached before Wales face Argentina on November 9.

“All we're doing on that day (October 8) with the board is bringing them all up to speed with all this huge amount of information,” said Reddin.

“What would normally happen with a board meeting is five days before a board you'd submit papers, but because of the volume we're talking about, and because of how hard everyone's been working and when the consultation has finished, that session is almost like an educational session for the board.”

“We're going to walk them through everything and bring them all up to the same level and then throughout the rest of October there are a whole series of meetings that will take place which will be decision-making points.”

READ MORE: Jac Morgan Eager to Begin Wales Re-build With Coach Steve Tandy

New Wales coach Steve Tandy will gather his squad together on October 21 for the four match Quilter Nations series against Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.

With Wales captain Jac Morgan already having told the Ospreys he would look to play outside of Wales if the Ospreys ceased to exist, it means the uncertainty for the players is set to continue.

Reddin says he accepts the knock-on effect, but has stressed that the decisions reached will have a timeframe that extends well beyond the autumn.

Asked if he was concerned that the ongoing uncertainty could affect Tandy’s players, Reddin said: “I speak to Steve most days and he’s fully involved in parallel with trying to support him for the autumn. 

“The pressure is not really about that and cleaning it up for Steve. 

“Whatever the decision is going to be, there’s going to be a transition period that’s going to outlast the autumn. The decision is about giving the game as much clarity as possible.”

READ MORE: RIP The WRU Two-Club Plan for Welsh Rugby . . . Another Dead Parrot

The former head of performance at the Football Association gave a broad overview of how he views this pivotal period for the sport in Wales.

“I've been involved in 31 separate meetings over the last month across the different stakeholders, ranging from professional clubs, several times each club, really, really good engagement. So nobody kind of turned up with their arms folded and holding a position.

“All of them came with different perspectives, data information and a myriad of different approaches to each element of what we talked about. So they were really good, engaging discussions more about problem solving than ‘we think this, and not that’.

‘“We then had meetings with professional players and their reps a couple of times, women's contracted players, ex-players, an independent group of experts, the SRC clubs, fans' groups and community groups.

‘“The politicians have been involved as well, so we’ve collated a huge amount of information. All of those meetings have been recorded and the transcripts have been sent back to each of the individual groups and we are processing that information as we speak.

“What we haven't done is try to cherry pick it and write stuff as we go. We’re trying to write the basis of the board paper then waiting for stuff to come in and assimilate it.

“There are some hot spots of agreement like pathway stuff, with unequivocal support from stakeholders seeing the necessity of investment in the pathway. 

“I see the opportunity on women's rugby and about getting the right phased investment, and they see the absolute need around coach development across the whole piece.

‘“They see the need for the top of the pathway to improve our productivity. It's been tough for academies, so I think the debate about a National Academy, as we proposed it, versus regional has become more nuanced as a result of the conversations.

“We're still bottoming out some of these but in terms of the number of clubs there has been some really healthy debate. 

“There is a normal distribution around both extremes we proposed. They are probably unpopular for different reasons.

“There's also been some really good debate, particularly amongst the professional clubs, about the models, the opportunities and challenges inside them and that isn’t  straight forward.

“As an executive board we're still working through all of that stuff. No decision has been made yet by the executive and we're still batting it around.”

READ MORE: WRU Tells Fans: Let us Know What You Think of Our Plan

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