English clubs take priority amid reports of Welsh Prem switch
Nation.Cymru staff/agencies
The prospects of two Welsh sides joining the Gallagher Prem are in doubt after English rugby chiefs said their expansion plans prioritise domestic clubs.
The Welsh Rugby Union is reportedly in advanced discussions with Prem Rugby and the Rugby Football Union about turning the league into a cross-border competition.
The report comes after incoming WRU chair Lyndon Faulkner pledged to review plans to cut one of Wales’ four professional sides and expressed support for a potential Anglo-Welsh competition.
The Prem, which currently has 10 clubs, wants to expand to 12 for the 2029–30 season.
Responding to the report, Prem Rugby and the RFU issued a joint statement emphasising their commitment to English clubs seeking promotion.
“Resources are currently focused on supporting English clubs throughout the pyramid who aspire to join the league,” they said.
“The Prem is an attractive league and responsibility for its expansion sits with the Men’s Professional Rugby Board (MPRB), which has established detailed entry criteria that any prospective club would need to satisfy.”
Entry could cost an interested club up to £23.5 million. That includes buying a P-share, which provides a percentage of central income and voting rights, alongside the requirement to fund a Premiership Women’s Rugby programme.
The RFU would also have to approve Welsh participation because it would turn the league into a cross-border competition.
The report comes against a backdrop of financial pressure at the WRU, which last week announced annual losses of £18.1 million, up from £7.2 million.
The union’s existing plan would reduce Wales’ professional men’s teams from four to three from the 2028–29 season. Cardiff and Dragons are set to retain their places, leaving Ospreys and Scarlets competing for a single west Wales licence.
However, Faulkner, who takes up his position in November, told BBC Sport he would challenge the proposals and was prepared to reconsider the decision.
“I wouldn’t have taken the job with those conditions or if it were me needing to be a yes man. That’s not me,” he said.
Cut a region
Asked whether he would be prepared to reverse the decision to cut a region, he replied: “Absolutely – and that’s on anything I see.”
The former Pontypool player, who is a supporter of a potential Anglo-Welsh competition, said he understood the concerns of Ospreys and Scarlets supporters. He also acknowledged that uncertainty over restructuring had already dragged on.
Faulkner described the WRU’s finances as “worrying”.
Accounts for the year ending June 30, 2026 showed group income increased to £116.2 million, but costs rose faster and net debt reached £126.1 million.
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This is yet more humiliation for Welsh rugby, looking inadequate in the eyes of our own supporters, treacherous to the rest of the URC and ‘the desperate little taffy next door’ to England. Meanwhile, another community club faces extinction in the west due to the inability of the WRU to reset our game at foundation level (where all our rugby talent is created).