Welsh clubs being urged to take WRU action
Rugby clubs in Wales are being urged to call an extraordinary meeting of the Welsh Rugby Union and hold a vote of no confidence in the organisation's chair Richard Collier-Keywood.
The WRU are in disarray at the moment - amid an awful run for the national team and controversial plans to cut the number of professional clubs in the country.
The call comes from a Welsh district, Central Glamorgan Rugby Union, which has written a letter that will be sent out to clubs looking to get 10 per cent of supporter, which is needed to force an EGM to take place.
The previous one came in 2023 when clubs overwhelmingly supported a chance in governance, with changes to the board and a first independent chair.
Glamorgan have said they do not believe change has been achieve and they want a vote of no confidence, which is one of three motions proposed.
The letter will go to clubs, but it is yet unclear if clubs in the Powys region will be involved.
The letter reads: "This new structure of leadership within the WRU has been in place for more than two years.
"While we acknowledge that the situation on the back of Covid has been challenging, we're deeply concerned the current leadership have not been able to formulate and commence the delivery of a plan that sets our game in Wales on the right track to support the professional, SRC [Super Rygbi Cymru], female and community game.
"Instead, we see the meandering between different versions of a plan, causing chaos, confusion and uncertainty, spending extortionate amounts of money on external consultants, combined with the current board's inability to define and deliver a clear strategy for rugby in Wales.
"This is causing reputational damage to Welsh rugby across the world when we were once held in such high esteem."
Reducing the number of professional clubs is a big bone of contention for clubs across Wales - as those clubs provide a pathway for players produced in Powys and other regions to enter the pro game.
Glamorgan went on to say in their letter: "We feel strongly we as clubs and shareholders need to hold the WRU to account and the only mechanism that we have to do that at this moment in time is via an extraordinary general meeting.
"To call an EGM, we require a minimum of 10% of voting members to support the call for such a meeting.
"However, we would like to send a stronger message and would therefore encourage clubs to canvass the opinions of their members to get as many member clubs as possible to agree change is needed in accordance with the motions we are putting forward."
It is proposing three motions, with a document provided for clubs.
The first is a vote of no confidence in WRU chair Collier-Keywood and PRB chair Malcoln Wall, which would require need a majority to pass.
The second motion would be for the WRU council to hold elections for the four elected member board position within 14 days after the EGM, also needing 50 per cent.
The third motion is to amend how the WRU district and council members are elected, which needs a 75 per cent majority.
In response, the WRU chief executive Abi Tierney said: "The Welsh Rugby Union has a clear governance process in place for these sorts of matters, as set out in our constitution, and we will continue to engage fully with our member clubs to follow that process."
