Ospreys CEO Nick Garcia insists the club are here to stay as he offered a bullish response to recent rumours over the future of the four Welsh regions.
Welsh rugby has once again been preoccupied with speculation over one of the four professional sides being culled, following the leaking of a report commissioned on behalf of the Professional Rugby Board that recommended such action. Speaking for the first time since proposals to slash one of the four pro teams emerged, with the Ospreys and Dragons reportedly the ones most in danger, Garcia insisted that the Swansea outfit are not going anywhere.
Garcia, who has been at Ospreys for just over a year after coming into the region from Manchester City, also advocated equal funding for the four professional sides while he insisted a merger between the Ospreys and Scarlets had never been on the table. He believes the leaking of the report, and the fact the Ospreys were put in the firing line, is likely to have come from a person "with an agenda".
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Speaking ahead of the Ospreys' final match of the United Rugby Championship season, with their Champions Cup status still on the line, Garcia said: "We are not in danger. We are bullish. It has been a challenging environment and not a pretty story about Welsh rugby.
"It does not help when you are going on sale for season tickets people are talking about regions being cut. There is nervousness about working in Welsh rugby. I am not concerned about Ospreys, I am concerned about the narrative.
"I have no worries about the Ospreys. There is no logic in the Ospreys closing. There is no logic in us merging. It is never a merger, it's an acquisition. Fans don't follow, we have seen that in the past and you are losing people out of the ecosystem who will start following football teams or something like that. Football will erode rugby in Wales so it does not make any sense.
"From the announcement last week it does not make sense to any of the regions or the WRU so our strategy is to still get four regions in Wales but we have to look at a proper governance structure.
“Everybody is engaged in doing that, we are getting close.
"I feel bullish and confident about the future of Welsh rugby, but I feel exceptionally confident about the future of Ospreys."
Part of the reason the Ospreys were reportedly more susceptible to being cut was the issue over a lack of stadium ownership. However, that was an argument that didn't wash with Garcia.
"It's simple," he said. "The number is 2055 which is when our lease runs out. In that context we probably have the most security of any of the regions.
And when it came to the contentious issue of a merger with the Scarlets, which was first proposed in 2019, Garcia was adamant that was categorically out of the question.
"100 per cent," he stressed. "It's never been on the table as long as I've been here. Obviously it was on the table a few years ago and that's why it's causing some distress but it just doesn't make any sense.
"I'm relatively new to Welsh rugby but as I understand it, when the regions emerged, a lot of people fell out of love with the game and it damaged the game.
"I don't think it would be any different if you merged any of the regions. I think fans would fall out of love with it. I don't see the value in it from that.
"I don't see the value from the Scarlets at all. We're in the second city in Wales, we've got a really strong brand, a strong following, we're the most successful team in Wales in the pro era. It's never even been a consideration to me.
"If I come back to my earlier point actually, that and the stadium was probably down to the person who leaked this report with an agenda but it's news to me."
A week after Dragons chairman David Buttress lamented the lack of an even playing field in terms of investment amid talk of regions fulfilling differing roles, Garcia admitted that he would like to see equal funding. However, while he acknowledged it was important, he insisted funding is "not the be-all and end all".
The Scarlets currently have a bigger playing budget than the Ospreys and Cardiff, who have more than the Dragons.
"Everybody is obsessed with the money coming in," he added. "The more important thing is getting the right government structure to ensure the funding is efficiently used and drives good behaviour. I believe there is enough money in the Welsh system but we just need to structure it right.
"I think everybody should be funded the same amount of money. This is sport, it is meant to be a level playing field. Sometimes uneven funding can fuel bad behaviour.
"The regions need to be held to account on how they run their business efficiently and successfully and that is about so much more than money.
"We don't have the biggest budget in Welsh rugby but we are still battling for the Welsh shield and more players in the senior and Under-20s set-ups.
"I would make it equal but there is a long way for this to play out and ultimately it is not my decision, I am one voice."
Crucially, that is often the key battle in Welsh rugby. Differing voices and opinions can mean change is slow to come, with infighting often par for the course. However, Garcia believes that the four regions and the Welsh Rugby Union can work together to forge a path forward, denying any sort of "master/slave" relationship between the four sides and the governing body.
"I am happy that is not the situation," he said about possible infighting. "Everybody cares about Welsh rugby, not just about the regions but the national team. We have the same objective.
"I have been here a year and I hear historically it was hard to get people in a room. I have noticed over the last nine months the coming together of that group and the collective understanding of what we are trying to achieve is much more united."
"In terms of the relationship between the WRU and the regions, there's a collective belief that it's not working. That's why we're around a table trying to find a resolution.
"I can't emphasise enough that although people envisage shouting and table-banging, it's a lot more collaborative than that. What we're aiming to do is build a plan for Welsh rugby that drives not only success, but sustainability for many years to come.
"That doesn't come overnight. I can assure you there's a collective ambition to do it. That's why I take confidence in it. The master/slave stuff, honestly it's a collaborative discussion.
"Of course, people are motivated by different things. Steve is motivated by a healthy rugby eco-system and successful national team, but he appreciates you don't get a successful national team without successful regions.
"Similarly, we appreciate that a successful national team drives the whole model. Everyone knows where they are going."
