http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/65104927" rel="nofollow - Llanelli pull out of next season's Welsh Premiership

Llanelli RFC will withdraw from the Welsh Premiership for the 2023/24 season. The club said it will be unable to field a team next season due to extra games in an expanded Welsh Premiership. It will also face a greater demand to provide players to the Scarlets, who face drastic budget cuts as well as potential World Cup call-ups. Scarlets heritage director Rupert Moon said the decision was "for the good" of Llanelli and the region. The Welsh Rugby Union said it has "sympathy" for Llanelli and has offered support. It has also called a meeting of the community game board for Wednesday to discuss the club's decision. Insiders at the club, one of the 11 founding clubs of the WRU in 1881, feel they are facing a perfect storm next year. The combination of additional games, the impact of the World Cup on the United Rugby Championship calendar, national squad requirements and regions slashing the sizes of their squads due to budget cuts will all take their toll. However, they insist it is not the end for one of the most famous names in world club rugby. The club said it would play "competitive friendlies" against opposition - as it did against Saracens this month - to continue developing players for Scarlets. Moon added: "Llanelli RFC can be stronger and more focused as a result of this decision with a streamlined and structured season focusing solely on player development, training and support. "The new-look Premiership next season is not a model for player development. "The semi-pro and pro rugby seasons don't align. The pressures of a 30-fixture season without senior development players, plus increased financial pressures and player availability issues in a World Cup year means competing next season in the Premiership competition is just not possible. "Llanelli RFC simply would not be able to fulfil all its fixtures next season, which would disrupt the competition and stretch resources too far, detracting from its key purpose to bring young players through."

The league is expanding from 12 clubs to 14 next year, so there is no relegation this season.

Are they throwing in an end of season cup too 😉

https://www.wru.wales/2023/03/professional-rugby-board-signs-new-six-year-deal/" rel="nofollow - https://www.wru.wales/2023/03/professional-rugby-board-signs-new-six-year-deal/

Probably means there will be no Ealing Welsh 

I can't see nothing in this deal to stop the Ealing Ospreys 'merger' or whatever deal was being discussed.

Under this agreement nothing seems to suggest that the Ospreys have to be based in Wales. The RFU would have to ratify a deal involving Ealing playing in the URC from London.

If it does scupper any plans It makes me even more confused what Ealing's long term plans are, considering they haven't gone down the minimum ground criteria or launch legal action against said criteria. 

Exactly tigerburnie. It does make you wonder what Ealing's plans actually are though bearing in mind it seems they didn't even submitted the paperwork to be considered for promotion.

Maybe their plan is to stay where they are and wait for all the Premiership clubs to go the way of Wasps and Worcester and be subsequently placed in the Championship which will then become the country's premier league? 

Welsh rugby's top men's domestic competition will be replaced and the number of teams reduced from 13 to 10 from the 2024-25 season by a "finishing school" for rising talent. The existing Indigo Welsh Premiership clubs can each apply for one of those 10 slots. Criteria for the Elite Domestic Competition (EDC) have yet to be finalised. But north Wales will be represented by RGC with nine teams from south Wales. ... Clubs will be able to apply to be a part of the new set-up from September with a decision made on their inclusion expected at the end of 2023. Team performance in 2023-24 season will not be one of the criteria for inclusion in the new competition. WRU performance director Huw Bevan said the aim of the new structure is to ensure "the players in the academy systems are getting consistent opportunities to play in a competitive environment". He added: "Ideally it'll be a 10-team league and based on an eligibility criteria that all the clubs will have to fulfil, we can manage eight teams but our strong preference would be for a 10-team competition. "Once the clubs have submitted their expressions of interest, they will be submitted with a club pack that will outline terms and conditions, basic eligibility criteria and the criteria by which each club will be evaluated." ... Ringfenced for three seasons From 2024-25 the league will be ringfenced for three seasons with no promotion or relegation, but clubs will have to maintain standards to stay in the EDC. "The league will be ringfenced for a three-year period initially, all clubs will have to fulfil the criteria to be eligible to play," said Bevan. "The clubs will have to achieve and maintain the criteria, if they don't continue to fulfil criteria then their eligibility will be reviewed." Applications will be assessed by a review panel which has yet to be appointed, comprising of one WRU representative and two independent panel members. John emphasised RGC's status, saying: "North Wales is strategically important for the WRU, which is why RGC will be one of the clubs participating in the EDC. "Any remaining places, subject to criteria being met, will be allocated to the clubs that have achieved the highest scores from the points-based criteria selection process." In order to ensure the league is sustainable, a salary cap will be included within the rules of the competition at the request of the clubs. Additional changes Lower down in the Admiral National League, all divisions below the Championship East and West will be reduced from 12 to 10 teams to limit the number of games played. "Over the past two seasons a number of games have had to be rearranged or played at the end of the normal season which has caused extension and a number of games in a small space of time, which is not desirable from a player welfare perspective," said John. "We should allow capacity for rearrangements to be played on Saturdays to help supporters and club revenues. "Following our discussions, we have concluded the suitable number of participating teams at the top end of the Admiral Leagues is 12 teams, with the number reducing to 10 lower down the pyramid." Additionally, there have been amendments to the concussion protocols, with players stood down for 21 days to align with the UK government, while rules and regulations within the women's game have been adapted to mirror those in the men's.

Is all you need to know. The incompetence continues.  

The RFU did the same co,ck-up when they set up the Women's Premier 15s. Litchfield got kicked out (despite finishing 3rd) so Gloucester-Hartpury and Loughborough (despite never competing in the old Women's Premiership or women's rugby pyramid) could get in. Not to mention they allowed Harlequins to fully steal Aylesford's women's team in the process. And they did it again in 2020 when they kicked out Richmond and Waterloo to let Exeter and Sale get in (despite only just being formed and there still being a women's pyramid below them).

The WRU are clearly doing the same here by guaranteeing their pet project of RGC a place. It is disgusting that sporting merit is being killed in rugby in order to allow the blazers in the Old Boys Club to keep their favourite clubs at the top.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/67151337" rel="nofollow - Barbarians fixture clash with regional derby wrong admits WRU boss Nigel Walker

Welsh Rugby Union interim chief Nigel Walker has admitted it was a mistake to allow Wales' match against Barbarians to clash with a regional derby. Warren Gatland's side take on the famous invitation club on 4 November at Cardiff's Principality Stadium. The match is billed as a farewell to record cap-holder Alun Wyn Jones, who will play for the Barbarians. However it will finish little more than an hour before Scarlets face Cardiff in the United Rugby Championship (URC). Welsh derbies are some of the biggest money-spinners for the regions who are facing even tougher financial cuts this season. Cardiff supporters accused the WRU of undermining regional rugby with a "staggering short-term fix" in a letter of protest to the new WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood. Walker said the Barbarians date, also seen as a vital revenue raiser by the WRU following the loss of the usual November Tests because of the World Cup, had been agreed before the URC fixtures were announced. However, he added: "It's not great that they're on the same day and I can assure people that it won't happen again. "It's not URC's fault. We should have stuck it out when we were sat at the table and said the derby can't be on that day.

There's a derby scarlets v Cardiff at the same time as this pointless extra international.

Yes. Ospreys is the true Derby.