Former Wales coach Mike Ruddock says it would be a "big mistake" to cut one of Wales' four regions.
Earlier this week, suggestions from the Oakwell report, which recommended cutting the number of pro teams from four to three, surfaced ahead of the Professional Rugby Board's meeting next week. Those proposals could see either the Ospreys or Dragons cut, or the Scarlets-Ospreys merger - which failed in 2019 - revisited. You can read the details of the plan here.
The Welsh regions and WRU have since moved to reassure supporters they will secure the right future for the game in a joint statement. You can read that statement here.
However, before that statement, the proposals were met with a backlash. And Ruddock, who led Wales to a Grand Slam in 2005 and now works as development director at the Ospreys, is the latest to question the sense in cutting four teams down to three. He has been making his feelings very clear behind the scenes.
Ruddock, who has spent a number of years coaching in Ireland, also pointed to the example of Connacht - who were nearly cut in 2003. However, after protests secured their future, they've gone on to win the PRO12 and become a strong side in their own right made up of Irish internationals.
Speaking to former Ireland prop Reggie Corrigan on Dublin’s Talking Sport on Sunshine 106.9, he said: “It is one of six recommendations that I am aware of that have been put forward in a report commissioned by the professional game board.
"The recommendation to get rid of a region was just one of six possible recommendations or options available. Reg, you and I remember when we were working in Ireland and the IRFU thought about getting rid of Connacht and the whole province took to the streets and marched to Lansdowne Road and made it very clear that was not a good idea.
“Connacht, under Pat Lam, went on to win the URC and look at all the different players they have produced for Irish rugby and the exiles they have brought in like Mack Hansen. It is still a numbers game, so getting rid of one of our regions would be a big mistake. I am trying to push the idea through the Welsh channels that it is a numbers game and the Irish model has proved that.
“Back in 1997 we had lost a lot of players to England, Conor O’Shea, Malcolm O’Kelly, Eric Miller, guys like that had gone to England and we had started to get some of those guys back, started to get our academies up and running in Ireland… and it was a numbers game off the field as well.
“Those are the lessons we are trying to convey. We have got to keep numbers in Wales, we have got to be honest with ourselves, which we are doing, and what we have got to do is look closely at these recommendations, come out of it the other side in a stronger way. I personally think that losing a region and losing numbers would be the wrong way to go.”
