2024-2025 Season confirmed. Good bye club rugby

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https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/66613532

WRU sneaked this in without a lot of fanfare.

They finally get Walkers "regional A sides" idea. A closed shop competition with no promotion, no relegation, player contracts and squads controlled by the "parent region"

The entire thing is designed to feed into what they laughably call "regions" with no thought at all to clubs, fans or actual competition.
It also further devalues whats left of the premiership another tier.

The changes also make this season effectively pointless as no matter where you finish in April, it has no effect at all on the year after.

[bloodknock]

I wholly agree with everything you say. A total stitch up!
One day when all or most of the Regions have gone bust, then some kind of normal club scene may come back.
If you have this revamped Premiership does this mean Llanelli can apply to come back in, after quitting the league structure?
Also the likes of Cardiff and Newport should not be included as the development players should go to the clubs - Cardiff and Newport already exist as `Regional` teams - you cannot have 2 bites at the cherry.
Explain this also to Neath and Pontypool who finally have got back into the Premiership competition after wilderness years. Now after 1 season they could be out on their ears.
Its a total botch up and stinks.

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If selected, it effectively would render us a Newport feeder club where they have control over our squad and team selection and play a series of meaningless friendlies against others in the some circumstances with no benefit to winning and no downside to finishing bottom.

If not selected, it effectively relegates us to a lower tier of Rugby.

Neither outcome is in any way good.

[DaiLew]

WRU continues to be a clueless shambles!
Can’t think of anything else to say about them.

[Bodie 007]

I really hope that clubs have autonomy otherwise we will fall out of love with what was once our club.
Llanelli are no more I've been assured as ALL the Premiership clubs said they would refuse to play them if they tried to reintroduce them.

[marshomano]

Interesting to see Cardiff sides have distanced themselves from it, with Merthyr pointy and Cardiff not willing to sign on the dotted line, but Swansea have gone all in

Be interesting to see where this goes.

[Malpas69]

I believe that Llandovery, Swansea, Carmarthen Quins and Pontypool have all submitted their "expressions of interest" (and not forgetting that RGC are already guaranteed a place). No news yet from us, Aberavon, Bridgend, Neath or Newport?