Welsh rugby bosses plan to scrap one side by 2028

Welsh rugby's governing body has announced it will cut one professional team by 2027.

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) said it will honour its current funding commitment to all four regions.

Ospreys and Scarlets have deals until June 2027 and Cardiff and Dragons until 2028.

But the WRU will reduce the number of teams being funded to just three "as soon as possible", possibly by next season in 2026-27.

The three teams will be equally funded, initially by £6.4 each per year and rising to £7.8m, with one based in the east, one in Cardiff and one in the west.

If current regions cannot come to a consensus as to how that will be decided - such as a merger - then the WRU will open a tender process for the three licences.

The WRU insists the pool of talent and finances within Welsh rugby means only three professional clubs are able to be either sustainable or competitive.

The WRU had initially said the optimum number of professional teams under its "radical step" was just two, but said it had listened to the responses from players, coaches, fans and stakeholders during the consultation process.

Chairman Richard Collier-Keywood also said the WRU would have to agree with the United Rugby Championship (URC) to reduce the number of participating sides in the 16-team league.

The prospect of teams being cut had been be met with fierce opposition from three of the regions while Cardiff have been owned by the WRU since a financial rescue in April.

Ospreys have already announced plans to redevelop St Helen's in Swansea as their new home ground for the 2026-27 season, while Scarlets revealed new proposed investors in August - although former WRU chief executive David Moffett resigned from that US-based company this week.

Dragons' owners also fought their corner, stating elite rugby must continue in Gwent.

More than 7,000 people responded the consultation process in September with overwhelming public opposition to the two-team model, as well as the threat of legal action or even a player strike if that was voted through.

Wales captain Jac Morgan was so appalled at the prospect of his Ospreys side ceasing to exist he said he would leave Welsh professional domestic rugby should that happen.

Today's announcement will do little to calm the often seething cauldron of Welsh rugby, particularly in west Wales.

The WRU said only one of the three future teams in Wales will be based in the west where both Ospreys (Swansea) and Scarlets (Llanelli) are based.

Scarlets and Ospreys are on a previous funding agreement until 2027 - worth just £4.5m a year - after refusing to sign the new participation agreement earlier this year.

There is still a hope within the governing body that the teams could merge but would open a tender process if they do not.

That process even opens the unlikely prospect that one of those clubs could apply for the licence based in Cardiff or east Wales.

The WRU, meanwhile, is a stakeholder in the URC - along with the four other national governing bodies - and would need support from the league to alter the number of regions competing.

Surveys have shown a majority of Welsh rugby fans would like the WRU to approach the English clubs to see if there could be an Anglo-Welsh league.

Reddin had stated that option was not on the table and the WRU remains committed to the URC.

So while the present now has greater clarity, the longer-term future of Welsh rugby will still remain uncertain.