New deal call for rugby regions

The Wales team celebrate victory
The Welsh team celebrate winning the Grand Slam in 2008

Llanelli Scarlets benefactor Huw Evans has called for a better deal for Wales' four professional rugby regions.

He said the sides paid £18m in player wages, but received under £4m from the WRU to help them keep players in Wales.

He told BBC Wales' Week In Week Out any new deal with the WRU would need an improvement in compensation the regions receive for the use of their players.

But Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Roger Lewis denied that the regions were not well compensated.

The WRU and Regional Rugby Wales, which represents the four sides, are in the middle of negotiating a new participation agreement set to resolve issues such as player release.

We need to be compensated for the release of those players because we are carrying all the cost
Huw Evans, Llanelli Scarlets benefactor

Both sides are keen to avoid embarrassing arguments over availability of Welsh players for coach Warren Gatland's national side such as happened during the last Autumn internationals.

Mr Evans, who has financially backed the Llanelli Scarlets, said it was time the regions were properly financially rewarded for carrying the cost of the international side.

He argued that the £3.6m the WRU gives them each year fell short of the real cost.

"If you add up all the costs of the squads at regional level in Wales it comes to about £18m," he told Week In Week Out.

"Most of those players have signed two- or three-year contracts so if you take an average, our liability for those players is in excess of £34m.

Regional academies

"We need to be compensated for the release of those players because we are carrying all the cost," he said.

But the WRU's Roger Lewis told the programme that as well as the £3.6m the union gave the regions, there was £8m that "washes through from the Magners League and the European Cup".

Mr Lewis said: "Furthermore the Welsh Rugby Union funds the four regional academies so we give the regions a further £650,000.

"We are also currently picking up player insurance costs - which we need to address. Also of course we pay for the running of the game, match officials and so on."

While access to players has been agreed for the coming Six Nations, both sides want a new long-term agreement to avoid rows over player availability surfacing again, which some in the game believe could undermine the success of Welsh teams at the top level.

Player release has been at the forefront of negotiations between the WRU and regions as they remain locked in a debate over how the professional game in Wales should be run.

Week In Week Out: Deal or No Deal? is on BBC 1 Wales on Tuesday, 3 February, at 2235 GMT. Viewers outside Wales can view BBC One Wales on satellite channel 972 or on the BBC iPlayer from Wednesday, February 4.

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