WRU set to serve two-year notice on all four Welsh regions and trigger final fight
The WRU remains adamant it will cut down to three professional sides, with a tender process lined up if there is no consensual reduction within a couple of months
The Welsh Rugby Union is poised to activate the notice period on the Professional Rugby Agreement 2025 for Cardiff and the Dragons, while offering the Ospreys and Scarlets two-year deals — a move that would open the door to a controversial reduction from four professional teams to three.
PRA 25 runs until 2030 but a two-year notice to termination exists which allows the WRU to get down to three teams by 2028.
WalesOnline understands the Ospreys and Scarlets have only been offered a two-year version of PRA 25 which runs out in 2028 but they would serve the two-year notice for both Cardiff and the Dragons.
The Ospreys and the Scarlets have not yet signed PRA 25 but both intend to do so to receive a higher level of central funding. As soon as they sign, the WRU will invoke the two-year notice on Cardiff and the Dragons before striking a completely new deal for three teams.
Talks regarding signing the PRA have dragged on longer than was initially expected leading to frustration in some quarters.
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A major obstacle has been PRA25's minimum-spend provision. Until the two west Wales teams sign the agreement, it is difficult for clubs to commit fully to recruitment plans for next season, especially since it is late in the day for signing players.
The WRU is still determined to cut down to three teams with the three licences centred on east, central and west Wales.
WalesOnline has been told the WRU has not entirely given up on reaching three teams by consensus but if it is not done over the next couple of months, going out to tender is the likeliest scenario.
An independent panel would likely need to be set up and the criteria agreed upon beforehand before applications open for the three licences.
The WRU would need to be very careful to avoid further legal challenges and its biggest hurdle is the fact that it is fairly certain Cardiff, owned by the WRU, will be one of the three.
A consensual reduction to three teams will only realistically be possible if one team throws in the towel or two teams agree to merge. There has been no public indication either of those are under consideration by any of the sides.
The Ospreys owners' bid to buy Cardiff earlier this year was seen as the easiest route for the WRU's plan to come to fruition, with the fate of the Swansea-based region plunged into uncertainty. However, following a massive public outcry and a failure between the union and Y11 to reach agreement, the deal collapsed. The WRU now has no intention of selling Cardiff, which it took ownership of in 2025 after the club went into administration, in the foreseeable future.
Attention has also turned to succession planning at the WRU, where independent non-executive directors Andrew Williams and Amanda Bennett are understood to be amongst the leading contenders to become the union's next chair.
Current chair Richard Collier-Keywood is to step down from the role next month.
The union has previously said it intends to lay out the path forward for its plan to reduce to three teams by the end of this month.
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