Professional Rugby Agreement

Before the introduction of the Wales regions into the Rugby Union, there were nine clubs playing in the Welsh Premiership, the highest level of national rugby in Wales. Since 2001, all teams have also competed in the Celtic League, a cross-border competition involving Welsh, Scottish and Irish teams. Five Welsh clubs have also been selected to take part in the Heineken Cup competition, which brings together, in addition to the Celtic nations, clubs from France, England and Italy. Ian Ritchie, RFU Chief Executive, said: “This is a true partnership to make English rugby the best in the world for the club and the country. A strong partnership between the RFU and prL is essential if we are to develop professional rugby across the country for the good of the players, the fans and the game. It is a true partnership to make English rugby the best in the world for the club and the country.” The partnership is worth more than $200 million, with the first payment over four years being set at $112 million. The second payment over four years could be more than US$112 million, depending on the financial performance of the rugby-revenue partnership approach. The funding model for clubs is based on reaching the threshold for English qualified players (EQP), elite Squads players (EPS) and standards for club academies. “Our two guiding principles were to protect the five professional units of Welsh rugby and to act in the fairest and most coherent way possible. With no rugby in Wales since March, the WRU could lose $50 million if it does not host international matches for the rest of this year. WPRA has said in earlier statements that anyone in Welsh rugby should have the opportunity to recover their losses. Caerphilly RFC was not against the plan, even though he had no role to play in a franchise. However, Cardiff RFC and Llanelli RFC opposed the structure and said it was “not in the best interest of Welsh rugby.” [7] Despite Llanelli`s intention to take legal action against the Union if the plans continued,[8] an extraordinary WRU general meeting was scheduled for 23 February.

[8] Welsh rugby is facing a huge lack of money due to the coronavirus pandemic, as North Wales was nominally part of the Scarlets region when regional rugby was introduced. Although rugby contains a significant part of the Welsh population, rugby is traditionally less well established in the North. In 2008, the WRU founded RGC 1404 as a representative development site in North Wales, headquartered in Colwyn Bay, to develop rugby in the region. RGC 1404 currently plays in the welsh premiership. It is not possible to go up and down between the Northern Top League, the WRU Division One North, and the rest of the Welsh Rugby Pyramid, and the northern rugby clubs act as feeder clubs for RGC 1404, much as the professional regions have their own feed clubs among the semi-professional Welsh parties. Thus, the RGC 1404 is not a full-time professional team, but de facto fifth region: unlike other teams of their level, they are not themselves a feeder club in one of the professional regions. RGC 1404 have their own academy and have contributed to the players of the U-20 national team. How to get into the Rugby Union – in the social team game that brings together the people of Welsh rugby is with a massive lack of money as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that has seen the game deadlocked for more than five months. In September 2002, the WRU and the Premiership clubs agreed to discuss and choose a future structure for the game. Two club representatives and two WRU representatives would discuss all possible options, including changes to the existing club structure, provincial rugby, franchises, superclubs and regional mergers.

[1] The establishment of regional rugby teams in Wales took place before the start of the 2003/2004 season.