A Provincial Future?
By RtR on 8/2/2003
February 12 2003
The lack of success for the Welsh national team has posed questions to the rugby establishment. The year-on-year success of the Kiwis, Springboks and Wallabies has been put down to the provincial system, and the Irish experience would appear to bear this out. So is this the future for England?
These are troubled times for our game, troubled times indeed. There is a financial crisis looming in rugby union, and its not just the English game that is under threat. Several leading nations are now finding out that the silver lining of the professional age also has its clouds, some of which will not blow away so easily. Examples include:
It is the last two points which should be of most interest to the Tykes faithful. The Welsh game is in genuine crisis, as the administrators want to move to a 4 or 5 team provincial set up, with these sides playing in the Celtic and European competitions. This is forcing clubs with relationships based upon long standing local rivalries being forced to merge together. This situation is prompted by the underperformance of the welsh game on the European and international stages for the last few years, and the WRU wants to promote excellence by spreading the cash less thinly amongst an elite. Not surpisingly, the clubs and WRU have yet to come to an agreement on how this will move forward.
So, how might this impinge upon us? Do you remember the Richmonds and the London Scots of this world, two of the famous old clubs in the English game that have died in the professional era. Bristol are now under serious threat, and a rugby landscape without them would be considerably poorer. As the clubs struggle financially, and start to consider wage cuts for the players, just consider how business works these problems through. It does so by merging with other companies to improve the economies of scale.
It is not implausible, that if the finances of the game do not start adding up, that some of the clubs will eventually merge with each other. Whether this happens voluntarily, or is forced upon the clubs as is the case in Wales is a matter for conjecture.
Nevertheless it may come to pass that we one day will see the Pennine Sharky Tykes taking on the London Harlecens, or the East Mids Saint-Tigers playing the West Country Briscester boys. How many of us would support these composite teams as fervently as we support the clubs - few I would suggest.
The implications that this would have on the game are enormous. Can you imagine the animosity that would prevail if Gloucester or Bristol were forced to merge with Bath? How would Leicester, the most financially stable club in the land, like it if their identity were threatened?
It was stated in the early days of professionalism that the provincial system would not work in England, as our Rugby heritage is based upon the clubs. However, this is also true of the Welsh game. Note that the Scots have already gone down the provincial route, but this has yet to be seen as a success either on or off the field.
So as the Welsh lumber towards a provincial system, the clubs struggle to retain their identities. Llanelli are desperately trying to preserve their club heritage, and are the likes of Pontypridd. If we in England were to be asked to put aside years of rivalry to undergo such changes there would be uproar. But if the financial situation and management of the game does not improve, these things may come to pass.
So, spare a thought for the Welsh - they may just be giving us a glimpse of our own future.
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