Former Ireland star Tommy Bowe has called for the number of Welsh rugby regions to be halved from four to two after admitting he has concerns about the state of the game in Wales.
Bowe, who won two league titles with the Ospreys during a four-year stint at the-then Liberty Stadium, has said that major changes are needed to change the fortunes of the regional game, claiming that the Welsh Rugby Union needs a "professional mindset" if things are going to improve.
There have been renewed calls for the union to modernise its governance with the regions continuing to underperform and Wales' men's side enduring a dismal autumn campaign which led to the dismissal of head coach Wayne Pivac and the return of Warren Gatland.
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The former winger, who also played for Ulster and the British and Irish Lions, has echoed these calls, claiming that resources have been spread too thinly in the Welsh regions, with the Ospreys, Scarlets, Cardiff and Dragons all playing their rugby within a comparatively small geographical area.
The solution, he claims, is to reduce the number of regions to two 'east' and 'west' teams, a move which he believes would increase competitiveness and make it easier for these sides to bring in sufficient sponsorship.
"People in Wales love their rugby but for whatever reason they haven’t really been able to buy into what the regions are," Bowe told S4C current affairs programme Y Byd ar Bedwar. “There’s not enough players, there’s not enough money to be able to draw sponsors who can really drive on four professional teams in my opinion.
“If I was to look at the Welsh system now I personally think that if you split it down the middle and you had a divide, say around Bridgend, and you had a West Walian team and an East Walian team, I can only imagine how competitive and how good a team you would have. [They] would be able to compete with the best in Europe."
With the majority of the WRU board made up of elected community club representatives, Bowe also claimed the union needed to adopt a more "professional mindset", with those involved in the professional game making the decisions rather than those in the amateur system.
The 69-cap former Ireland international added that his homeland had reaped the rewards of adopting such a system, with Andy Farrell's side still the highest-ranked in the world ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup. Wales, meanwhile, are ninth, behind Scotland and Argentina, while Irish provincial clubs are also largely outperforming their Welsh counterparts in the United Rugby Championship, with Leinster and Ulster currently first and fourth respectively.
“It’s a professional game now," added Bowe. "And from what I gather in Wales a lot of the decisions that are made on the professional game are made by people who’ve been involved in the club system for so long. But really if Wales and the regions want to progress and want to compete with the best teams in the world you have to take a professional mindset with it. That’s something that we’ve seen in Ireland and we’re reaping the rewards from it."
However, Bowe's calls have been dismissed by WRU CEO Steve Phillips, who has said Wales "needs" four regions. While he acknowledged that the union's relationship with the regions needed improvement, he believes progress can be made without having to reduce the number of teams involved.
Also appearing on Y Byd ar Bedwar, he said: “I think the answer is we’ve got to make them sustainable. It needs to be four teams for a whole raft of reasons; history, heritage and playing pool for the international team. Do I think we could go down to two and keep our history in Wales? No, I don’t.”
Phillips also defended the community-appointed directors on the WRU board and claimed that the criticism levelled at them was "inappropriate".
“You’ve got to remember the WRU is here to save not only the professional side of the game," he said. "It’s got a commercial operation, it’s got a community arm to deliver, it’s got a professional arm to deliver. And if we don’t deliver all of them and around the same time we’re probably doing something wrong."
Watch Y Byd ar Bedwar: What does the future hold for Welsh rugby on Monday, December 12, at 8pm on S4C, or on demand on S4C Clic and iPlayer. English subtitles are available.
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