Shane Williams is warning the sporting tide 'could swing very heavily in favour of football' in Wales if Wayne Pivac's team bomb again in South Africa this summer and Gareth Bale fires his side to the World Cup.
Record try-scorer Shane spelt out his worries after a dismal Six Nations for Wales, which culminated in an embarrassing loss to Italy, and amid the continued woe for the four Welsh regions. By contrast, he feels there is a feelgood factor to Bale and the Wales football team at the moment as they stand on the brink of a first World Cup since 1958.
The draw for the Qatar finals was made on Friday and will pitch Wales against England, the USA and Iran in Group B if they can edge past Scotland or the Ukraine in a Cardiff City Stadium play-off final.
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While Bale and Co have their June date with destiny, Pivac's men face three gruelling showdowns with world champions South Africa. What happens this summer, Shane feels, holds the destiny to how the two sports are perceived by the Welsh public through the 2022-23 season and beyond.
The Welsh legend goes as far as saying: "This summer could be crucial for the survival of Welsh rugby." He continued in a Rugby Paper column: "If Gareth Bale produces some more magic to steer the Welsh football team into a first World Cup in 63 years, and Wayne Pivac's team have a tough time of it in South Africa, then the balance of power in Welsh sport could swing very heavily in favour of football.
"The World Cup runs from November 21 to December 18. If Wales make it, then everyone will be focussing on them from June to Christmas.
"They'd better cram in the Autumn Tests early not to clash with the games in Qatar."
Pivac's men have their own World Cup in 2023 and Williams still believes a fully-fit team can still fire out in France. However, the regions need to turn around their fortunes, he stresses, to keep fans interested in Cardiff, the Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets, as well as Pivac's national team.
No Welsh side is on course to make the United Rugby Championship play-offs. The four are in the bottom seven in the table with the Dragons propping up everyone bar Zebre, while Cardiff are just one place above their east Wales rivals. While the Scarlets had a fine win over Cardiff on Saturday evening, they, like the Ospreys, have blown hot and cold this season.
Which Williams feels makes Pivac's job harder. "He needs his players to be tasting success somewhere," says Shane, going on to say: "These are difficult times for so many people, whichever way you turn. With fuel prices rising, as well as sky-high petrol prices and extra taxes, who is going to have the spare money to support regional rugby - and see the Welsh side in the autumn?
"The way to keep the fans coming back is to give them a team with a chance of competing against the best. That's where the focus should be this summer."
Williams lamented the woeful European results achieved by the regions this season and says the Scarlets, Ospreys and Dragons in particular "need to have a hard look at themselves before next season's tournaments kick off with the South African teams involved.
"The bar at the top end of the United Rugby Championship and Europe is being raised higher and higher and our regions are struggling to keep up."
However, he also points out the rugby calendar is stacked against the regions, with Wales' final summer Test not taking place until mid-July, and says more time needs to be invested in the development of Welsh rugby's emerging young talent.
"A couple of months in the autumn internationals take over and the merry-go-round will have started again. What chance do the regional coaches have of fielding their best teams? What chance do the fans have of backing truly competitive teams? What hope is there of an upturn in regional fortunes when the odds are so hugely stacked against them?
"When your backs are against the wall there is only one thing to do. Fight back. Those young players learning the hard way over the past 18 months have got to suck it up and work even harder."
