WRU recommits to scrapping a team as Scarlets and Ospreys fight
The Welsh Rugby Union will cut one of its four regional sides, with Cardiff and the Dragons told they are safe, leaving Scarlets and Ospreys to fight for one place.
The Welsh Rugby Union has recommitted to scrapping one of its four regional teams, and Scarlets and Ospreys are now fighting for a single place. Cardiff, who are owned by the WRU, and the Dragons have been told they are safe.
Dave Reddin, the WRU's director of rugby, said "I understand the pain", according to The Guardian.
The timeline bears him out. The union publicly committed to keeping all four teams 18 months ago. Twelve months ago it announced it would cut two. Six months ago it settled on keeping three.
In the west, the question is why the two sides picked out are Scarlets and Ospreys. Both have won titles and produced hundreds of Test players. Unlike Cardiff and the Dragons, neither has been into administration.
Cardiff are the only one of the four teams owned by the WRU, so the other three depend on the union's decision.
If the WRU holds to the plan, the decision will come down to those two, and the argument in west Wales is unlikely to go quiet before it is made.
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