There are probably bigger priorities for Welsh rugby right now — what with the regions lamentably under-funded, the national team having just lost to Italy, Wales U20s having suffered the same fate and an average-sized family car probably able to accommodate all those who are pleased with the way the game is governed this side of the River Severn right now — but, still, what did happen to the Wales A team?
Resurrected in 2016, it was supposed to be what Welsh rugby had been looking for, a stepping stone between regional rugby and the under-20s game for potential international players. The hope was that it would prove an important link in the development chain, with the side playing a couple of matches a season.
Six years on, it has become Welsh rugby’s ghost team, a side that hasn’t played since it was brought back because of lack of opposition, lack of space in a congested calendar and existing demands on players and regions. “We just need 60 weeks in a year, really,” said former Welsh Rugby Union chairman Gareth Davies when speaking of how to accommodate an A-team programme of matches.
