WRU and four regions in major announcement as agreement finally reached
The Welsh Rugby Union and the nation's four professional teams have finally reached agreement on a new deal for the future of the game.
After months of negotiations, the deal, which will see increased funding and debt reduction at the clubs in return for greater WRU influence, is close to completion. A statement says all parties have now "agreed on the principles underpinning the funding deal". It's important to note, however, nothing is signed yet, with each pro team having to take the deal to their own board of directors to get it signed off.
The new Professional Rugby Agreement for 2025 (PRA25) will underpin the working relationship between the WRU, Cardiff, Ospreys, Scarlets and Dragons until 2030. It aims to establish financial stability and "create the foundations for success in all areas of the men’s professional game in Wales".
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The deal is expected to see the salary cap rise from £5.1m next year to £6.8m by 2029, while the WRU will take the Welsh Government debt off the clubs in return for a non-controlling equity stake in all four sides.
Crucially, as previously exclusively revealed by WalesOnline, the agreement will see the WRU gain unprecedented influence over players and rugby operations at the four teams.
A new Professional Rugby Committee (PRC) will be established, with a Centre of Excellence (CoE) and a National Contracting Panel set up. Each club will have defined responsibilities and many will be linked to a new incentivised funding model.
The CoE, which will include the Wales head coach (currently Warren Gatland) will be able to:
Request to clubs over playing positions and playing minutes of 'Players of National Interest'.
Request to clubs that a player of national interest should move to another Welsh club if it is in the best interest of the national side, although the final decision lies with the player. If a club agrees but the player rejects it the club in question won't get penalised.
Influence decisions over overseas signings.
They will have a say over a club's squad composition with regards the number of home grown players and non Welsh-qualified players.
Have a say on S&C programmes and individual player plans with players of national interest
Give approval of a club's shortlist for a new DOR, head coach, head of S&C
Request a club releases coaches to work with WRU age grade teams.
Fine details are currently being worked through but club CEOs are set to recommend the new deal to their boards and stakeholders imminently, with final confirmation of this keystone element of the WRU's One Wales strategy set to follow soon after.
The headline aims of that strategy were first published last summer, with the expectation the full details would be revealed in the autumn. But delays in all parties being able to agree on the PRA have held everything up for months as the men's senior team have fallen to 13 consecutive defeats.
“The four regional clubs and the WRU have agreed on the principles underpinning the funding deal. We’ve agreed on the key points, and now we’re finalising some of the last details before presenting the agreement to the Boards and Stakeholders for approval." said Professional Rugby Board (PRB) chair Malcolm Wall, speaking on behalf of each of the four professional clubs and the WRU who all sit on the PRB.
He added: “The settlement with the clubs is part of a whole game approach which is already seeing advancing improvements to the pathways which support senior men’s rugby in Wales.
“This includes the installation of new academy licences at professional club level, the raising of standards in the new Super Rygbi Cymru competition, which sits underneath the professional teams, and greater collaboration across the game with national coaches sharing ideas and strategy and staging skills clinics for new and emerging talent.”
A new model for ‘shared services’, where the Union and professional clubs will unite to create efficiencies from suppliers and pool resources for income generation from partners and sponsors, will be installed alongside a directive for minimum operating standards which has been agreed.
It is hoped increased investment in squads will not only allow them to grow in size but also help to retain talent and repatriate players who have moved overseas or even see those developed outside of Wales return. This squad growth is expected to be supplemented by the ability for squads to include top quality overseas signings.
“We are at a crucial stage in completing a deal which will not only safeguard the future of the professional game in Wales in the short term but will also directly enable long term success. These are exciting times for our game with the right systems and structures being enabled off the pitch designed to enable future success on it in all quarters,” added Wall.
