Here are the latest rugby evening headlines on Tuesday, April 26.
Plans revealed for a women's version of the URC
Plans are afoot to create a women’s version of the United Rugby Championship. Tournament chief executive Martun Anayi revealed: "We had a strategy day recently and we asked everybody what are the top three things you want to see URC doing over the next five years and a women’s competition came in the top three of everybody.
"I have done a lot of work recently asking our clubs and Unions where everybody is and what their plans are. We think the URC can be a key part of how the Women’s Six Nations can get even bigger and stronger. We just need to try to work out how we bring that about.
"We would like to get it going sooner rather than later because the women’s games deserves that. I think we can pull together a really great competition. There is a definitely a will. It just feels like we should have a women’s competition. We are just exploring how that comes about now."
Read next: The complete Welsh rugby performance that just had Justin Tipuric purring
All of Wales' Six Nations matchday players ply their club trade over the border in England's Allianz Premier 15s to get the highest level of regular rugby on offer. Most clubs are affiliated to a men's Gallagher Premiership side.
WRU performance director Nigel Walker has previously spoken of his desire to improve the standard of women's club rugby in Wales so internationals have the option of playing here instead of travelling to England multiple times per week for training and games. A request for a Welsh team to join the Premier 15s was previously rejected by the RFU, but Walker said last month that nothing was off the table.
Regional chief calls for equal funding
Ospreys chief executive Nick Garcia believes all four Welsh regions should receive the same level of funding. At present, the distribution of the pot of available money is weighted depending on the number of players each team has in Wales' elite 38. That means the playing budgets vary across the regions. Former Manchester City executive Garcia is opposed to a tiered system of funding in Wales.
Speaking at a fans Q&A, he said: “I fundamentally believe in equality of funding from the central model. I don’t the Ospreys should be funded more than anyone else. That’s where the integrity of sport lies. Why financially dope one team to make them more successful?
“We need to fix the business model so they can all thrive. My view is you can absolutely sustain four regions and from the point of view of the performance of the national team you probably need four regions. If we make the Ospreys or any of the Welsh regions global brands then we will be stronger.” You can read more of what Garcia had to say at the fans' forum here.
'Many fans have little idea who the Ospreys are', says South African boss
Calls have been made for more to be done to bring South African sides up to speed with the United Rugby Championship. Rian Oberholzer, acting chief executive of the Stormers, told DM168 there needs to be better information for supporters.
“It has been a confusing time for fans," he said. "We went from Super Rugby, which was on the decline in terms of support, into Covid, into a Rainbow Cup that morphed into the URC. Nobody made an effort to explain to the supporters and spectators who and what this competition is.
“For instance, many fans have little idea who the Ospreys are. The mistake we all made was that we didn’t go back to our support bases and explain to them how this new competition works. People aren’t even aware how the play-offs work.
“The lack of communication and information sharing from our side is one of the major reasons we are battling to get supporters back to stadiums. Fans are saying ‘don’t expect us to come to the stadium and pay money for something we don’t fully understand’. The only way we will solve these challenges is by talking to each other and engaging fans.”
Live coverage of Welsh Varsity Cup
Live coverage of both Welsh Varsity Cup rugby matches will be available via S4C on Wednesday, April 27. The men’s and women’s teams of Swansea University and Cardiff University will compete in a double-header at the Swansea.com Stadium, with a bumper crowd expected.
S4C will show live online coverage of the women’s rugby match from 4.20pm, with the men’s fixture being broadcast from 6.50pm. The games will be shown on S4C Clic, the S4C Chwaraeon Facebook Live page and the S4C YouTube page. English match commentary will be available on S4C Clic and YouTube. Highlights of both matches will then be shown on S4C from 10pm on Thursday night.
