The statement leaked last night and published by the WRU today (here) issuing the formal two-year notice to terminate the current PRA agreement is in complete contradiction to what the WRU have recently said publicly and also in a meeting the OSC attended with other supporters’ organisations on 30th April (where the commitment to four teams was confirmed) . Giving notice on the existing PRA revokes a commitment to a collaborative approach and vision shared between the clubs and the WRU, exhibiting a lack of respect and what appears to be an unreasonable attempt to publicly control the narrative in a forceful manner rather than address reasonable concerns in a constructive way.
We fully understand and back the Ospreys position in terms of wanting guarantees of fair and just payment for sustainable development of players for the national team. Based on recent issues around due diligence that have led to the financial issues at Cardiff Rugby, it is essential that sufficient time and effort goes into ensuring that signing up to the 2025 PRA doesn’t lead to the WRU prioritising any single club to the detriment of one of the clubs who have remained financially solvent since inception. Rewarding a club that has just gone into administration seems anything but fair and just.
The Ospreys have delivered four League titles, regularly supplied the bulk of the national team and they continue to set the highest standards in supplying the lone Welsh Player from the URC to the British and Irish Lions squad. Seeing the looming potential for a two-tier PRA that disadvantages Wales most successful professional team is unjust and goes against any messages of trust and transparency that have been coming from the WRU.
We can assure you that we have spoken to the Ospreys and we are aligned in wanting fair and just negotiations with the WRU, allowing the very reasonable guarantees to be made that the Ospreys are seeking before agreeing to sign up to the 2025 PRA.
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