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Anglo-Welsh league off the table for now in seismic blow for Welsh rugby
An Anglo-Welsh competition is off the table for now, WalesOnline has learnt.
The United Rugby Championship and Premiership Rugby had held serious talks about merging both competitions. One idea that was considered was an Anglo-Welsh conference sitting within the URC which would have been the best scenario for Wales' four professional clubs - Cardiff, Dragons RFC, Ospreys and Scarlets.
Both competitions have been looking at ways of increasing the value of future broadcasting deals, with neither the URC or the Gallagher Premiership achieving the level of commercial success it wants. Along with an Anglo-Welsh conference, a two-division competition between the URC and the Premiership with promotion and relegation has also been discussed.
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But WalesOnline understands there has been a significant difference of opinion within PRL as to what is the best course of action and as a result an Anglo-Welsh competition is no longer on the agenda of English clubs. The Premiership clubs are unconvinced an Anglo-Welsh conference would result in the significant uplift in broadcast income it needs, while according to well-placed sources the number of Welsh clubs has also been a sticking point.
Given the precarious financial position of many English clubs things could change but for now it looks very unlikely. Only last month Scarlets executive chairman Simon Muderack told WalesOnline how more meaningful Anglo-Welsh fixtures would be transformational for the Welsh clubs.
"I do believe we need more cross border competition with the English clubs on behalf of the Welsh clubs," Muderack told WalesOnline. "Just thinking about this in abstract terms. We have a salary cap in Wales and they have a salary cap in England but they don't have a salary cap in Ireland.
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"I think cost control, sustainability enabled by a cap is something Welsh teams and the English teams could align on pretty quickly. Then you've got the history, the diaspora and what it means to our mutual fans.
"I am not discounting the value of some of the other teams and what they add to the competition nor our desire to play against them. Leinster is a team who probably on a club rugby perspective are the yardstick you want to measure yourself against.
"That means you want to play them for better or for worse so you know where you stand. It doesn't necessarily exclude those teams from the competition but I do think selfishly the Welsh teams and being uber selfish the Scarlets have a lot to offer a competition where we would play more games against English clubs.
"It would potentially enable us to have more home fixtures which gives us greater opportunity to receive gate receipts. I believe access to some of those teams and the English marketplace would be appealing to some of our sponsors, certainly it's appealing to our fans.
"Any way you look at it you've got opportunities for increased enjoyment, increased value and increased revenue from our perspective."
