Sam Wartburton has called for a huge shake-up. (Image: BBC)
Sam Warburton has reiterated his stance that must axe one regional team to consolidate their player pool and initiate a five-year plan aimed at reviving the nation’s rugby fortunes, which are currently at an all-time low. Following a series of 17 consecutive Test defeats, in Cardiff during Matt Sherratt’s last game as interim head coach, Wales is now searching for a new director of rugby and head coach. However, Welsh legend Warburton insists that more radical changes are needed beyond just appointing new leadership.
He has called on the WRU to engage in an “open conversation” about the possibility of cutting one of the Welsh regions, arguing that after a demoralising Six Nations campaign, the worst possible course of action would be to do nothing. “If you’re going to make a call it’s now. No action is the worst action now. It’s worse if you do nothing. You have to do something. So, what do you do? Four regions don’t work. We haven’t got enough players,” Warburton expressed on ‘s Six Nations Rugby Special.
Warburton has made a bold call for a shake-up in the structure of Welsh rugby to bring about much-needed success. He detailed that this restructure accidentally mirrored successes in the English Premiership, stressing: “Look at the impact it’s had, by accident, in the English Premiership. It’s concentrated the player pool, we need to concentrate our pool into three teams.
“Maybe there are 30 players of national interest to Wales. Any players outside of those players of national interest, they get dual-contracted to the tier below, which is the Super Rygbi Cymru, our semi-professional league, but you can enhance that if another 90 players drop down and play in it.
“That is geographically well-represented across all the regions including north Wales. That’s got to come in the form of a merger. It’s got to be put on the table now and we’ve got to have these open conversations. Is anyone willing to merge? The teams in the west or the east?
“Or are we going to judge it off who has provided most players to the national team and performance on the pitch. If that’s the case, and it’s unfortunate because a lot of good work is going on there, then it’s going to be the Dragons who suffer. Something has to change, that happened with Wasps, Gloucester have now taken all that player pathway. Those at the top have to stick their head above the parapet and lead the way.”
Matt Sherratt is unlikely to continue as Wales boss (Image: Getty)
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Former head coach Warren Gatland previously called for similar decisive action in Welsh rugby, with Warburton insisting that the status quo cannot continue.
“Something has to change,” he declared. “You’re never going to please everyone. If you are high up in the Union, you have to accept, any decision you make, someone is not going to be happy. That’s life. But you have to try and make the best decision which genuinely has the best chance to make the best impact on Welsh rugby.
“I haven’t got any evidence that three teams will work, but I’ve got 20 years of evidence that four teams isn’t working – because the regions have not been successful for a long time. Something has to change.
“This isn’t simply a case of finding 15 new players to populate a starting side for the new head coach. These problems are systemic and need a long-term strategy.
“People just want to know what’s going on. If you are paying £100 a ticket – the game survives because of the national team – if there was a strike and an international game didn’t go ahead, clubs would fold underneath. That goes all the way down. if you don’t have the international product, you’re struggling.
“Big changes are needed because it’s not working. It’s going to take some pain to get there – I can’t see us winning another championship for another five years – but if there’s a five-year path we can all buy into and get on board with then I think we will go into the right direction.”
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