TIME FOR REFORM
There will be no Welsh involvement in the RaboDirect Pro12 play-offs, just as none of the four regions made it to the knockout stage of the Heineken and Amlin Challenge Cups or even the last four of the LVCup. Ospreys were the last to fall out of contention in the league after their defeat by Zebre last Thursday.
The plight of the regions is summed up by their combined record against Zebre this season, a side that had not won a league or Heineken Cup match before the start of the campaign. None of the four has achieved the double over the team that was, before the visit of Ospreys, lying at the bottom of the table and Cardiff Blues lost home and away. Their combined record of three wins, two draws and three defeats in eight matches contrasts with the four Irish provinces' return of eight victories out of eight.
None of the three regions that took part in the Heineken Cup this season had a better than 50% record in their group, while two have qualified for the Rugby Champions Cup; as Ospreys and the Scarlets have done by finishing outside the top four of the Pro12, they will be among the lowest seeds when the draw is made next month and destined to feature in demanding groups.
The regions hope this month – and they will have time to spare after this weekend, which will mark the end of the season for all of them – will mark the end of their long negotiations with the Welsh Rugby Union over a participation agreement to replace the one that runs out at the end of next month but such is the shattered relationship between the two groups that whatever is signed will amount to no more than words: the vital element of trust, present in England, will be missing. It will be more of a truce than a treaty.
The WRU is likely to end up with a deal that will demand a greater financial commitment compared to a year ago, when the regions were told that the midway point of the deal did not provide an opportunity to renegotiate terms. The quartet's costs had increased, not least because of the wage inflation Wales's success from 2011 had helped to ignite, but they were told the relevant clause only allowed them to pull out of the agreement, not renegotiate its terms.
From the outside, the WRU's stance seemed to be that as the regions had nowhere to go, locked into the Pro12 and unable to play in a cross-border tournament without the union's permission, it was under no obligation to make concessions. The regions felt their options were to sign an agreement that would amount to the longest suicide note in history or go to the high court to win the right to self-determination, knowing that defeat would spell oblivion.
Never mind that the priority should be creating a partnership between the governing body and its professional teams as a prelude to addressing the issues at grassroots level, which go far beyond throwing spare cash around.
Rugby union's claim to be the national sport of Wales looks spurious when participation and spectator statistics are carefully examined. Wales's success under Warren Gatland has masked underlying problems that need a consensual approach to resolve, not the confrontational stand taken by a centralist WRU that appears resolved to change everything but itself.
A working party on constitutional reform has reported this year but it is highly unlikely there will be radical change to a board of directors that, in essence, is the same as the one that operated in the amateur era, when it was called the general committee. An independent non-executive director has been proposed, along with a female member, but the system of electing the vast majority of representatives by district will remain.
The WRU's board should reflect the regional system it created 11 years ago. Its policy of accruing power to the centre is making the game elitist and undemocratic. The Rugby Paper reported this week that clubs are angry at plans to reform the league system, not only the policy of making it regional to reduce travelling but a lack of consultation.
One club official said that the mood of the clubs was one of anger and despair. "As a club-led organisation, the WRU cannot impose something on us without discussing it with us at the very least," said John Manders, of Old Illtydians. "There is hardly a week that goes by in Wales without a club being lost and the change to the league structure will have massive consequences. I have spoken to a large number of clubs who are in sheer panic at what could happen in terms of not being able to field a team."
The principle behind the change is sound, to make rugby at community level local to encourage participation and support, but just as the regions have grown sick of being the patient to the WRU's doctor, so many in the grassroots are ready to rip up the prescription. David Moffett, the former WRU group chief executive who returned to Wales earlier this year with the aim of becoming the chairman of the union, may have less of a problem to secure the 32 clubs he needs to call an emergency general meeting.
Moffett published a manifesto last month that concisely outlined the issues facing the game in Wales, pointing out that the regions and the clubs were united by a common purpose. When the regions refused to sign an extension of the participation agreement last December, they looked isolated and vulnerable but the creation of the Rugby Champions Cup, a tournament they backed and the WRU fiercely opposed, has consolidated their position. They have, at last, found strength in unity.
The regions have lost a number of players to French and English clubs in the last couple of seasons, operating on the lowest playing budgets in the Six Nations and without England's policy of only considering players for international rugby who are earning their livings outside the country under exceptional circumstances.
It is a policy Wales used to have and the agreement being discussed with the WRU includes a dual contract for national squad players. The purchasing power of the English and French clubs, boosted by the European Cup deal, will put added strain on the Pro12 countries, which is why the WRU and the regions have to work together in partnership and in trust. The mass migration is having an impact on the national team, diluting the club environment developed by Gatland.
Consensus, not conflict; the Ian Ritchie approach, neither soft nor hard but fair, listening as well as talking. Regional Rugby Wales is in the process of appointing a new chief executive following the retirement of Stuart Gallacher. The WRU needs a change at the top. It lost the argument over Europe and it has lost its regions. The time has come for a rugby devolutionist.
THE CHANGING SEASONS
Wales are touring South Africa next month, playing two Test matches, and at least many of their players will have a few weeks off this month, although the three at Racing Metro are in play-off action.
June tours will become obsolete if European clubs and player associations in the two hemispheres have their way. The expansion of the Super 15 has meant the tournament has to be interrupted to cater for incoming international teams, ending the custom in the south of playing tournaments in one block.
There is a move for the start of the season in Europe to be put back one month to October. The clubs and players hope it will be considered in earnest by the International Rugby Board as calls for a global season become more clamorous.
A problem, though, is that the Super 15 is set to expand again in 2016. The Australian Rugby Union has approved a plan to increase it to 18 teams: a sixth one from South Africa, a side from Argentina and another that will be put out to tender with the aim of attracting an Asian bidder ahead of the 2019 World Cup, which is being staged in Japan.
The idea is being floated to broadcasters this month. The number of regular season matches will go up by 15 from 120 and eight teams will be involved in the play-offs rather than six. That said, each team will play 15 matches in the conference stage rather than the current 16.
It remains to be seen when the tournament would start and end; whether its final would coincide with those in the European leagues, so that all players could have a couple of weeks to prepare for opening Tests.
Those calling for the season in Britain to start in October argue that it would mean that rugby union did not clash with the start of the football campaign, not that it does now, or the end of the cricket season, but having major finals played in June mean clashes with other sporting events, such as Wimbledon and cricket Test matches.
As the game continually looks to expand to earn more revenue, so the calendar becomes more congested. Sometimes less is more.
TWIST IN TOP 14 TALE
The regular season in the Top 14 finished last Saturday with a late twist in the relegation battle. Biarritz, in the heart of the Basque country, had long been consigned to the bottom but on the final day one of three teams would be accompanying them down a division.
Bayonne were at home to Castres, Oyonnax were at Brive and Perpignan had the toughest assignment of the trio, away to Clermont Auvergne, who were looking to stretch their unbeaten run at Stade Marcel Michelin to 77 matches.
With less then 10 minutes to go, Perpignan looked safe, tying with Clermont, while Oyonnax, who had started the day level with them on 50 points, were losing by nine at Brive. Then Clermont kicked a penalty, Oyonnax scored a try and the Catalans were gone.
An exodus of players is expected, including the Wales international James Hook. He is unlikely to return to Ospreys because of the financial restraints on the regions and he has been linked with promoted Lyon.
He could, though, join the Welsh contingent at Bristol, if the West-Country club win promotion from the Championship: they play the first match of their two-legged semi-final against Rotherham on Saturday.
One of Bristol's coaches is Sean Holley, who was in charge of Ospreys during Hook's time at the Liberty Stadium. The former Wales captain Ryan Jones linked up with Bristol this week to prepare for the play-offs after being released from his contract early by Ospreys following their failure to make the play-offs.
CONTRACT CONUNDRUMS
Another Welsh international at Perpignan, Luke Charteris, is also likely to be on the move and returning to Wales. Ospreys, who are losing Ian Evans to Toulon, see the 31-year old second row as his replacement but his old region, Newport Gwent Dragons, are also in the bidding.
Ospreys said this week they had no idea whether their Wales and Lions prop Adam Jones would be playing for them next season. They have been in contract discussions with him all year and he has the fall-back of a central contract with the WRU, although that could hinge on the agreement eventually hammered out by the union and the regions.
Worcester are set to announce an exodus from Sixways after their relegation from the Premiership: they have little hope of a reprieve, with all four clubs in the Championship play-offs confident they will meet the entry criteria for the top flight.
The Warriors are likely to have to trim their playing budget, even though they will receive a parachute payment next season. Scotland, little more than a year out before preparations start for the World Cup, will be anxious to know where their Lions prop Euan Murray will be playing.
He has been linked with a move to Glasgow but wages are believed to be an issue. Given the growing financial might of the French and English clubs, the Pro12 unions and their teams need a co-ordinated response to keep their best players, or those who are left in some cases, at home.
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