I stand before you today with mixed emotions.
After 20 years of serving this great
The fact I will be able to reflect on so many good times and good people while I’m soaking up the Australian sunshine in
There are those who have served both the union and our game far longer than I. There are many others who have made a greater impact. But I hope that my contribution down the years has been of some use and made some difference.
This will be my sixth and final report to you as chairman of the general committee.
It comes at a time of financial hardship not only for Welsh rugby, but for all professional sports.
Yet I believe that we can all view the future with an increasing sense of optimism.
We have grasped the nettle of professionalism both on and off the field, totally re-vamped the style of our administration and the shape of our game and are shortly to launch our new strategy document.
We have a new team of professionals at the WRU charged with running the game on a day to day basis and, at the end of today’s meeting, all the changes you voted for last year to make the way in which we govern our game will be put in place.
Heading our new professional team is David Moffett, whose management experience has already made a significant impact on our business since he joined us last November.
The new executive board, headed by David, was agreed by the clubs at the egm last year and will have full executive powers, so streamlining management as the 27-man general committee becomes the 18-man board. Supporting them in the day-to-day running of the
David has assembled a top executive team around him and I believe the collective efforts of that group, which is now complete with Paul Sergeant as the Millennium Stadium manager, Gwyn Thomas as the Group Commercial and Marketing manager and Steve Lewis as the WRU’s general manager, will help to drive the business of welsh rugby forward.
That has got to be the goal. Our game simply cannot afford to slip back any further in a number of areas – on the international field, at club level, in terms of playing numbers or on the financial front.
There could be no better time to launch a revolution in Welsh rugby. You, the clubs, have empowered the new board of directors to pick our game up off the floor and turn us once again into a credible and competitive force on the world stage.
I know you will all offer your total support to those charged with resurrecting Welsh rugby, as well as keeping a very close eye on progress.
Much has changed in our game since the general committee first decided to appoint a chairman to guide the fortunes of Welsh rugby. That was back in 1993 and the first chairman was Vernon Pugh.
Sir Tasker has already made mention of the great loss the world game felt at the untimely death of
The loss of both
Gone, but never to be forgotten!
Last year I said that our international record was unacceptable and once again we have had a poor return from our national team.
A Six Nations whitewash was desperately disappointing for us all and we are currently in the grip of a record nine match losing streak.
We need to see a significant upturn in fortunes both prior to and at the World Cup in
That message will be passed on to the national team management and coaching staff following their end of season review with the board of directors and David Moffett.
That being the case, it is down to us all to back them to the hilt as they prepare to face
Their World Cup assignment couldn’t be harder.
A place in the last eight would most likely mean a knock-out game against either
We haven’t progressed past the quarter-final stages since the World Cup was last in
It would be remiss of me not to mention the retirements of two of the greats of our game over the past year.
Scott Quinnell stepped down from test rugby after the win over
Stars for club, country and the Lions, they both made huge contributions to Welsh rugby and were regarded as truly world class performers. They are to be thanked and congratulated for that and wished all the best as they continue their playing careers in our new regional structure.
I am sure both Scott and Neil would have been immensely proud of the achievements of the
Well done lads. It was a fantastic effort that showed what Welsh rugby can achieve. The Welsh women’s team also showed vast improvement with two wins in the Six Nations championship and even better results at age group levels.
We suspended our ‘A’ team last season in a cost-cutting exercise, but our Under 21 team continued to provide a beacon of light for the future.
Under the guidance of manager Wayne Hall and coaches Chris Davey and Kevin Hopkins, these young men captured the Six Nations Grand Slam, beat
There were also good international performances from our age group sides below Under 21 level, the Youth Under 18s achieving the Grand Slam while both the Schools under 18 and under 16 teams beat their English counterparts.
That certainly provides further proof that our Schools, Youth and Junior clubs system can produce highly competitive talent.
The hope for us all is that the new professional regional rugby system we have put in place for the coming season will finally provide the vehicle for our talented youngsters to reach their full potential.
The time has come, as in
The great debates over the past few years over how many teams Welsh rugby could sustain at the highest level have led us to a figure of five for the new season. There is still a question mark over whether or not that is a sustainable number. But what we have all got to do is get on with it. Not just at regional level, but right down to the base of the welsh rugby pyramid.
There is also the question of cutting payments to clubs next season. The professional game soaks up a huge per centage of our income, yet it is also our biggest revenue earner.
Nobody likes cutting back on payments, but if the new board of directors and David Moffett are to stand any chance of steering the WRU out of its current position then everyone has to bite the bullet and feel the pain.
I’m very excited at the prospect of five regional teams competing in the new style Celtic League and Celtic Cup and challenging the best teams in
Good luck, I say, to the Celtic Warriors, Cardiff Blues, Llanelli Scarlets, Gwent Dragons and the Neath/Swansea Ospreys. Go on and make us all proud of your achievements.
Equally as important as their success on the professional stage will be the performances of the 16 teams in the semi-professional ‘Premier Division’ that will underpin the regional structure.
This will maintain the character of our domestic game with the likes of
This division will be the breeding ground for our next wave of professional players. What it must not become is a cash haven for the growing band of ageing mercenaries who have been earning far too much from our game in recent years.
The restructuring continues throughout the amateur sector of our game with a First Division and then five divisions catering for the four regions and
If there is one message i would like to convey to you all before I step down it is to examine your role and position in Welsh rugby. Each and every one of you has played a vital role in the development of our game.
Many of you have produced a stream of international players. More importantly, you keep our game alive across the length and breadth of the country. For the majority of you, that is where you fit into the picture.
Ambition is a great thing, but from now on we have to realise there can only ever be room for five or less professional sides in
More than anything next season I hope the changes to our structure redefine the difference between the thin band of professionals and the large majority of amateurs in our game.
Welsh rugby is 122 years old and for all bar eight of those years the WRU governed an amateur game. Let’s return to our historical roots, recapture the magic of the days before 1995 when the game went open and play for fun, enjoyment and pride.
Despite the gloomy headlines, the past year has seen a number of significant achievements, none greater than the landing of a major role in the 2007 Rugby World Cup hosted by
Firstly, following on from our own successful hosting of the 1999 tournament, rugby’s biggest competition will return to the Millennium Stadium in four years time with
In addition, 20% of the net revenue from the tournament, likely to produce a payment of between six and eight million pounds, will accrue to the WRU under an agreement signed with France and other members of the five nations in 1999.
Secondly, the WRU has, for some years now, been actively pursuing its national facilities strategy based on the Millennium Stadium, the national centre for excellence and recently its five regions.
The Millennium Stadium is in place, the funding and planning permission for the National Centre of Excellence at Bridgend has been obtained and funding for two indoor training facilities has been obtained, one to cater for the east in Newport and one to cater for the west in Llandarcy.
All these facilities come at no cost to the WRU and are the result of partnerships with
The Sports Council for
Thirdly, an application has been submitted to the Wales European Funding office and negotiations are taking place to put forward a plan for the benefit of all individuals within the rugby industry.
As you can see, we are firmly focused on new horizons for Welsh rugby with the major changes implemented on and off the field that I have highlighted.
Those changes are part and parcel of our game, there is no turning back. The challenge now for all of us is to make them work.
The framework is there for Welsh rugby to pull itself up by its bootstraps and thrust forward. The time is right, your general committee has ensured the key pieces of the jig-saw are in place and now is it down to the new management to fit it all together.
I’m confident they will do that and I know you will give them all the support they need.
Before I step down, I would like to thank you all for your help, support and friendship over the past 20 years.
I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to all the members of the general committee I have served with down the years, to the Secretaries and staff of the WRU and, for his guiding influence over the past decade, to our president Sir Tasker Watkins.
While there are quality men and women like you all involved in Welsh rugby we will never be more than a short distance away from the status we deserve.
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes my chairman’s report. Thank you all very much.
