Someone check up on Stephen Jones, he’s made a good point for once

[u/CymroCam]

[u/Chizzy93]

I’m surprised. This is actually the first time I have agreed with him about anything that he has written.

[u/NuclearMaterial → u/Chizzy93]

Are we... wrong?

[u/Illustrious-Chef-498]

A broken clock is right twice a day unless it's digital.

[u/squeak37 → u/Illustrious-Chef-498]

Stephen Jones is very much an analogue sort of twat.

[u/grandMasterkrust]

Jones couldn't make a point if you gave him a pointy stick.

[u/MountainEquipment401]

Only the WRU could make this clown sound vaguely competent

[u/SignalButterscotch73]

I vaguely remember agreeing with him about something a decade ago, he's right very very very rarely.

Still by far the most ignorant about rugby of all the print journalists that claim rugby journalism as their job.

[u/Connell95]

But there isn’t enough income with the four regions – they all lose money other than Dragons. And so does the WRU.

If everyone had enough money already, the whole issue wouldn’t have arisen in the first place!

[u/manintheredroom → u/Connell95]

If everyone had enough money already, the whole issue wouldn’t have arisen in the first place!

would have helped if they werent spunking all the money they do have elsewhere though

[u/HumanWaltz → u/Connell95]

1. Most rugby teams only survive thanks to sugar daddies happy to bankroll

2. The WRU earns in the same region as the IRFU, they’re able to fund 4 teams to a far higher level than the WRU. They have also said that there is money, or at least was, the finances are currently very mixed.

[u/CymroCam → u/Connell95]

99% of pro rugby teams run at a loss

[u/Connell95 → u/CymroCam]

99%? Nah. In the Top 14 alone, at least three are profitable, and another couple roughly break even.

Running at a loss is just fine if you have an incredibly rich backer happy to bail you out each year (a la Jacky Lorenzetti at Racing or Bruce Craig at Bath). But otherwise it’s unsustainable. The WRU can subsidise to an extent, but it is already making chunky losses as is, so there’s not some massive reserve to draw on there).

(And House of Luxury is not going to be bailing out millions of losses at Scarlets any time soon, sadly)

[u/Fandango-9940 → u/Connell95]

The Top 14 and the Japanese Top League are the only self sustaining domestic Rugby competitions in the World, every single other one is subsidised by money made from internationals to some degree or another.

[u/handle1976 → u/Connell95]

Stop talking about facts. We all know you just need vibes to pay the bills.

[u/Toxicseagull → u/handle1976]

WRU has a higher revenue than the SRU and IFRU...

[u/squeak37 → u/Toxicseagull]

Tbf SRU only run 2 teams, so using them as an argument doesn't really make sense. Irfu is a valid argument though

[u/Toxicseagull → u/squeak37]

They were included because they almost make as much as the IFRU with those two teams more than anything. If we optimistically presume revenue inflows stay the same with the cut to 2 teams with wales. They still might only achieve Scotland level. Which would be short of than their stated goal of top 5 in the world.

[u/WhyIsItGlowing → u/Toxicseagull]

They have a reasonable amount coming in but they're spending all of it and more. They had a £14m loss 2 years ago, £10m last year... They've got a lot in the bank but will run out in 2030.

[u/Toxicseagull → u/WhyIsItGlowing]

I know? The point is they have the money, they are just utter incompetent in it's distribution.

[u/Zealousideal-Way2048]

If we stopped shit clubs in the arse end of nowhere getting a say to line their own pockets, we'd have not been here in the first place. Whole contract needs to change before any meaningful change will happen.

[u/Speedbump_NZ]

That's gotta be a sign of the apocalypse.

[u/Tall_Chef_9356]

The article.

At the end
"A sorry litany of WRU missteps"

https://www.thetimes.com/sport/rugby-union/article/welsh-rugby-regions-plan-t60brf568

Also a rare Wales Online earlier today

that blasts the WRU.

[u/Fit-Cryptographer-24]

Yeah but at least we have a massive hotel mate

[u/justafleetingmoment]

Axing the Rebels seems to have worked for the Wallabies.

[u/Montemauri → u/justafleetingmoment]

Big difference between 20% and 50% though...

[u/West_Put2548]

well....you can keep whipping a dead horse a hope it gets up and keep telling yourself ' I'm not giving up'

[u/Former-Pain-8890]

we cant go one day without some news about the perish of welsh rugby