Someone put out the bin fire that is the Welsh Rugby Union
Every sporting body goes through its annus horribilis, when nothing seems to go right and the public demands answers as a result. But the Welsh Rugby Union and the sport more broadly across the Severn Bridge is into what feels like its fifth consecutive year of horror and a complete inability to shift the narrative.
The governing body of Welsh rugby continues to be all over the place, a dumpster fire of torrid news which just keeps blazing.
A damning independent review in 2023 found aspects of the WRU sexist, misogynistic, racist and homophobic; they’ve been accused of neglecting fans and underfunding the four regions – which they’re actively trying to reduce to three; they were forced to negotiate with players on the eve of the 2023 Six Nations to stop them striking; they’ve lost popular talent such as former captain Ken Owens to Welsh football governance; the failed rehiring of Warren Gatland; and endless chaos elsewhere.
No one has been able to take it all on, handle the flak and clear the decks of humiliation after humiliation. And it looks as though the public has had enough.
Welsh Rugby Union crisis
There are thousands of empty seats for Wales’s Six Nations fixture against France, with thousands more left empty for matches against Scotland and Italy. Those who pay to watch the men in red lose yet another game have had enough.
They’re going elsewhere: to a football team on the up and just a handful of games away from the Fifa World Cup; to a number of clubs playing in the English football pyramid such as Wrexham and Swansea; to a Hundred franchise looking to develop Cardiff into a sporting powerhouse.
The WRU is being left behind, and recent issues surrounding the future of the Ospreys will not help. The handling of the regional game has been one almighty cock-up when instead Welsh rugby should be expanding north and westward.
Then you look at the squad for this year’s Six Nations, which feels weak and beatable, few sides will be concerned about Wales across the next two months. And their captain, Dewi Lake? One of many fleeing to financial security in the English Prem and beyond. Who can blame them?
Wales need some good news, the fans need some good news and the suits need to desperately find something to cling on to, otherwise they’re out of the door.
It is chaos in Wales at the moment, and you cannot feel anything but sad for the fans who are now choosing to desert their team until the WRU can get its act together.
Home and dry
For the last month I have been calling in this column from the Atlantic, having taken part in the World’s Toughest Row.
Rowing across the Atlantic to Antigua has been an incredible experience and – alongside Julian Evans, Tom Clowes and Stuart Kershaw – it’s been worth it to raise money for charities including the Matt Hampson Foundation and My Name’5 Doddie Foundation.
The mental and emotional toll of not seeing my family since November has been worse than the physical pain but I am proud and grateful that I have been able to do this.
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance and is rowing the Atlantic to raise money for MND charities. Donate and follow at World’s Toughest Row