Scarlets and Ospreys resist WRU proposal as anger rises in west Wales
At eight o’clock on a Saturday night at Parc y Scarlets, fans watched Scarlets’ Dane Blacker, Sam Lousi and Joe Roberts combine for a try as the crowd sang and voiced anger at the Welsh Rugby Union’s plan to eliminate one of the four regional teams.
The WRU has told Cardiff, owned by the union, and the Dragons, who play out of Newport, that they are safe, leaving Scarlets and Ospreys to contest a single remaining slot; WRU director of rugby Dave Reddin reiterated the proposal and was met with jeers and the chant “Dave Reddin’s a wanker.” Reddin, who describes himself as a “serial disrupter of elite sports performance”, said: “I understand the pain.”
Local officials point to a series of U‑turns in WRU policy: 18 months ago the union publicly committed to maintaining all four teams, 12 months ago it announced plans to remove two, and six months ago it decided to keep three. Nigel Davies, Scarlets’ director of rugby, criticised the process as chaotic: “It’s all so random at the moment, isn’t it? We’ve gone from four, definitely, to two, to three. I mean, it would be unacceptable in any other walk of life. That is not planning. That is chaos.”
Scarlets officials stress the club’s infrastructure and ownership. Chairman Simon Muderack noted the club’s determination: “To be blunt we’re not going anywhere.” Parc y Scarlets, built in the early 2000s, seats 15,000, has indoor and outdoor training facilities and, Muderack said, “The whole place is owned by the club.” Huw Evans, who oversaw construction, said: “It was a fight to the death really,” and described building the stadium as a survival strategy.
The club used a home fixture against Cardiff as the backdrop for a ceremony honouring former Scarlets players and allocating individual cap numbers to every one of the 2,600 who have played for them; Derek Quinnell, Dwayne Peel and Davies took part. Davies described the club’s regional reach and personal attachment: “When I was a boy growing up, I wanted to play for the Scarlets, yeah, Wales would have been good, but Scarlets was the team, that’s what got me into rugby.”
Scarlets leaders emphasise community ties across west Wales. Managing director Jon Daniels, Llangennech‑born and bred, said: “Rugby’s in people’s blood here, has been for 150 years.” He recalled family links to industry: “When I was born this was all mines and works steel, tin, and all that gave us a real strong sense of community,” and warned: “What we are is west Wales. The day our community thinks they no longer need the Scarlets, that’s when we’re done.”
Those connections extend to grassroots fixtures: at Carmarthen, where Quins played Swansea in Super Rygbi Cymru, a crowd of about 250 watched a Quins side that included eight Scarlets players, most of them still kids. Davies said the rivalry is not with the Ospreys or the southern regions: “Ask anybody here, they want Ospreys to be around,” he said, “and ask anybody there, they will say the same about us.” Muderack added that most communication so far has been public: “I mean, our primary communication mechanism at this point has been the public domain.”
Scarlets’ board acknowledge financial pressures while disputing the rationale for being targeted. The club is sustainable day‑to‑day but carries significant debt, and Muderack questioned penalising clubs that have not been into administration: “I don’t really see how not going bankrupt can get you penalised. I struggle with that. It doesn’t sit well with me. And I don’t see how being the only holders of the main domestic league titles can get you penalised, either.” The club has recruited former first minister Carwyn Jones to the board and believes measures such as more fixtures against English teams and attracting private investment should form part of the response.
A series of workshops on all the cuts are due to start in December; club leaders say those talks must begin with the question: 'What do we have to do to keep four teams?'