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Wales Online
15-07-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
Today's rugby news as WRU told to act swiftly over cutting team call and Welsh players 'considered' for Lions call-ups
Today's rugby news as WRU told to act swiftly over cutting team call and Welsh players 'considered' for Lions call-ups These are your morning headlines on Tuesday, July 15. The WRU make a major announcement on Monday about the future of the game in Wales (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency ) These are your morning headlines on Tuesday, July 15. WRU told to act fast Former Wales international Chris Horsman has told the WRU to act swiftly and show "strong leadership" after the governing body announced it could possibly cut two professional teams. On Monday the WRU released a statement saying they were considering a "radical" strategy to change the game in Wales, with a period of consultation with the pro clubs about to be entered into. Horsman, who played for the disbanded Celtic Warriors, says decisive action is now required. "What the game needs more than anything at the moment is stability," said Horsman, who was capped 14 times for Wales, to the BBC. Article continues below "For me, if they're [the WRU] going to make the cut they've got to just come forward they've got to give us some strong leadership." Initially the WRU said it wanted to retain all four professional teams and were adamant it had the required funding to make all successful, but they have changed their stance. All now face instability, which Horsman spelt out in no uncertain terms. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack for the exclusive five-week tour diary from Japan and Australia. "Potentially they have got a year left of their contract," Horsman added. "They [the regions] want financial stability. Are you going to buy a season ticket? If you're a business are you going to sponsor the region, because you don't know in three, four months' time, you might be told it's not going to be there anymore? "So there are so many things resting on this decision and again we've got to wait. "I know it's not going to be straightforward but we've heard that things were going to happen 18 months ago and they haven't, so I don't put a lot of stock in it's going to happen fast. I hope it does for the players' sake and for Welsh rugby's sake. "One thing I will say is when we were at the Celtic Warriors, it happened over a weekend, pretty much, and as painful as it was at least it was done and then there was a decision made that the players were divvied up, pretty equally between the four regions and the game moved on quickly. "I think that's what's needed now." Welsh players were 'considered' for Lions call-ups British and Irish Lions assistant John Dalziel says that Welsh players were considered for the various call-ups made by the tourists in recent days. Andy Farrell has called Jamie Osbourne, Jamie George, Thomas Clarkson, Darcy Graham, Rory Sutherland and Ewan Ashman in to the squad to offer cover - with the size of the squad going up from 38 to 44. No Welshmen have been called up - with Jac Morgan remaining the sole Wales player in the squad. "They were considered like everything," said Dalziel when asked if any Welsh players were in the mix. "The process of the last few days hasn't been in the here and now. "It's been for a long period of time. We've had a big list. When you're selecting the squad, there's so many quality players that if you ask anyone else, you'd have a different group of players. "There's so many good players. Unfortunately, top-quality players have been left out the selection. "They've gone and performed with their countries. As needs must, they're getting opportunities - some a bit later." With hookers and looseheads called up, there could have been an opportunity for Dewi Lake or Nicky Smith to get a call-up. Smith ended the tour of Japan with an injury - travelling back with his foot in a boot. As for Lake, the Lions opted for different hookers in George and Ashman. 'There's nothing really external that we considered or talked about," added Dalziel. 'Look at Jamie George, he had two 14-hour flights to get here. It's not an easy choice to get him in. 'We looked at it properly, it was a process with Jamie being part of the set-up at the start. 'New era' for Welsh rugby Wales international Alex Cuthbert says the win in Japan in the second Test signals a "new era" in Welsh rugby. A shocking run of 18 Test defeats came to an end on Saturday when Matt Sherratt's men dug deep to beat the Brave Blossoms in the sweltering heat of Kobe. It levelled up the series 1-1 and Wales will hope this is the start of a clean slate now for whoever takes the reins permanently as Wales head coach. BBC pundit Cuthbert says an enormous amount of credit needs to go to the players for digging deep in highly-emotional circumstances. "Wales going through this run of not being able to win, it's a habit that sticks with you and the pressure builds and builds," he told the BBC. "You could see it last week. This week they just seemed to manage it a lot better. You've got to give credit to those boys, they've had such a tough year. "Someone like Aaron Wainwright has not won a game of rugby this year - it is good to see and just to get that monkey off their back. "Whoever comes in now doesn't have that hanging around their neck like Matt Sherratt said. "To get the win, for me now it's a complete clean slate, it's a new era at Welsh rugby." Scotland duo out By Gavin McCafferty, PA Scotland have lost Jamie Ritchie and Tom Jordan to injury for their final summer tour match against Samoa. Flanker Ritchie, who left Edinburgh this summer to sign for Perpignan, and new Bristol back Jordan were both injured in Saturday's 29-14 defeat by Fiji. However, Matt Fagerson has brushed off the knock he suffered in Suva and both Ben Muncaster and Gregor Brown are in line to return for Friday's game at Eden Park in Auckland. Assistant coach Pete Horne said: 'Jamie, unfortunately, he's hurt his foot. He's going to be ruled out for the weekend, which is a shame for him. 'We've got good news on Matt. He trained earlier and is going to be fit for the weekend, which is great. 'And then another one that's unlucky is Tom Jordan. He had a little bit of pain after the game. He doesn't really complain about anything but he had a bit of swelling in his hand. 'He went for a scan and an X-ray and he's actually got a fracture in his hand. So he's going to be ruled out of this weekend as well.' On the players who missed out on Saturday, Horne said: 'Gregor is progressing really well. He took part in a bit of training earlier. He's going through his return to play protocol but he's tracking really well and should be available, all going well, over the next couple of days. Article continues below 'And Ben was back training by the back end last week. So he'll be fine as well.'
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Potential region loss 'another sad day'
The potential threat of losing another regional team is a "sad day" for Welsh rugby, says former Wales international Gareth captained the Celtic Warriors which was liquated by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) after just one season in and Ospreys could face a similar threat in two years' time after refusing to join Cardiff and Dragons in signing the WRU's new Professional Rugby Agreement (PRA).They have since been served notice on their current deal which expires in regions cited concerns the new PRA would "disproportionally benefit" Cardiff after it was taken over by the WRU last however has warned the community impact of the latest strife could be "more important than the fate of Welsh rugby". 'Not just about rugby' Chief executive Abi Tierney has said on numerous occasions that the WRU were committed to retaining all four regions, and while they have not said they will cut one, they have not ruled out the possibility in this latest saga."It's just another sad day and another sad story in Welsh rugby," Thomas told BBC Radio Wales."We need to understand it's not just about rugby."Thomas said the demise of Celtic Warriors was far reaching and had a huge impact on Bridgend, Pontypridd and its surrounding areas."It's not just about livelihoods of the rugby players, it's about the town itself, it's about the area, the region they live in," he said."When regional rugby was taken away from Celtic Warriors, shops closed."People weren't inspired anymore, children didn't want to play, so there's a real other narrative that I feel is a little bit more important than the fate of Welsh rugby, and that's the state of inspiration for towns, for cities, for regions."It's really sad that there's the potential that this is going to happen again." 'Still in the same place' Ken Owens was Wales' captain when the regions went through a similar PRA crisis in talks had left many players in contract limbo, with a strike threatened prior to a Six Nations game against England."We are still in the same place we were two years ago," the former Scarlets skipper told S4C."This agreement needed to be signed, and it hasn't been signed, and we knew something was going to happen."We need to look at the details and how that looks, but the Union hasn't said they will go down to three regions."Owens, who served as the chairperson of the Welsh Rugby Players' Association (WRPA) from 2015 to 2019, added it was disappointing that "we have no way forward for the game in Wales.""If we lose a region, we must look at the sponsors. Why would the sponsors put money into something that isn't going to exist in two years?," he said."We must remember the personal element as well, the players the staff across all four regions that are affected."We need to have a plan for how to move forward, to turn the negatives around in Welsh rugby."Evolution has gone now, we need revolution."
