Inside the disaster engulfing Welsh rugby: The bitter battle over the Ospreys, ‘heartbroken’ followers, secrecy, deceipt and double-dealing, the zip wire scandal and the devastating impression it is all having on Wales and their Six Nations hopes

Wrapped up against the elements on a freezing cold Bridgend night, Annette Thomas is on the verge of tears.

Her voice cracks with emotion when she’s asked about the future of her beloved Ospreys, a team she’s supported since its inception in 2003 but one now very much at risk of disappearing amid the Welsh Rugby Union’s controversial plan to cut one of its four men’s domestic sides. 

‘This region means so much to me. It’s a real family,’ says Thomas, surrounded by hundreds of her fellow fans and members of the Ospreys Supporters Club. ‘WRU, shame on you!’ they chant, holding up a series of banners and signs that leave little to the imagination as to what they think of the governing body’s proposal.

‘What the WRU is doing is an absolute disgrace,’ Thomas continues. ‘They said they would listen to supporters. They aren’t. Supporters in Wales don’t want this. The WRU can afford four professional teams. They’ve built a hotel but don’t fund the game properly. If the Ospreys disappear, I won’t put another penny into Welsh rugby.

‘Richard Collier-Keywood, the WRU chairman, says that fans follow players. Well, if the Ospreys go, I’ll follow Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake to Gloucester and support them instead. But they are never going to take this region from us.’    

As Thomas talks, the chants and signs rise up again, expressing as much disdain for Y11 Sports & Media – the owners of the Ospreys – as they do for the WRU. The slogans all have a familiar theme.

‘Hands off our region.’ ‘Ospreys will fight on.’ ‘Stick your Collier-Keywood up your a***!’ ‘Y11 = Traitors.’ ‘WRU – Worst Run Union.’

 Welcome to the toxic world of Welsh rugby, where on the eve of the Six Nations and Saturday’s clash with England, the game is dominated by fights for survival, off-field politics and raw emotion making it hard for players and fans to focus on the action on the field as Steve Tandy’s men try to win their first Six Nations match since 2023. 

Last Saturday night, ahead of their team’s last-gasp win over domestic rivals Dragons, Thomas and Co protested vehemently against the plans which have put their team at risk. ‘We will not go quietly. We will rage against the dying of the light,’ shouts Ospreys Supporters Club secretary Keith Collins, his words greeted with huge cheers by the hundreds of protestors in attendance.

‘Welsh rugby without the Ospreys is simply inconceivable,’ he says. ‘I’m speaking from the heart. What has been settled? Nothing. Welsh rugby has been my life for 60 years but if the Ospreys fail to exist, I’m done with it. I’m galvanised because this is a threat to something I love.’

At the back of the mob, a young fan rises high above the crowd with the help of an adult’s shoulders. His sign says he dreams of being a future Osprey.

But those hopes, in all reality, look forlorn. The WRU has approved a bid from Y11 to buy Cardiff from the governing body, the imminent deal meaning the Ospreys will be shut down. They will continue to exist for the next 18 months, but news of their likely slow death has once again led to an uprising of fury. It is not just Ospreys fans either. Across Welsh rugby, from the grassroots to the professional game, there is frustration, anger and bitterness.

In many places, there is apathy too. As Tandy’s national side prepare to head to Twickenham, with eight Ospreys in their wider squad, the focus is off the field not on it.

In March last year, CEO of the Welsh Rugby Union, Abi Tierney, insisted the WRU had the ability to maintain four professional clubs. Then, led by director of rugby and former England fitness coach Dave Reddin, a new proposal put forward the idea of two sides amid a change in financial circumstances.

Reddin was keen for those two to be based in Swansea and Cardiff. Y11 are now circling around Cardiff as it makes more commercial sense to them to have a finger in the pie of a historic club playing out of the capital. But that further imperils the Ospreys. Initially, both the Ospreys and Scarlets (from Llanelli and the fourth team in Wales) joined forces in a legal claim against the WRU for what they saw as preferential treatment of Cardiff.

But late last year, Y11 withdrew that threat leaving the Scarlets as the sole claimant. Some in Welsh rugby circles smell a rat. After all, it wouldn’t be great business practice for Y11 to be part of a lawsuit against the WRU while also trying to purchase Cardiff from them. There can be no doubt the current direction of travel suits the WRU’s three-team plan.

On Wednesday, a Swansea Council statement said it had ‘serious concerns that the WRU’s restructuring proposals breach UK competition law’. They have sent pre-action legal letters to the WRU and Ospreys owners Y11, urging them to rethink closing down the Swansea-based side.

Even so, the Ospreys look toast, even if some of the team’s former greats such as Alun Wyn Jones and Shane Williams have spoken out against the plans. Williams says: ‘It’s a really upsetting time for the fans to see the team they’ve supported potentially wound up. To think of the legacy that we built at the region and that it could disappear breaks my heart. We are going to fight this to the end.’

Wales have not won a Six Nations game for the past two seasons. On and off the field, the country’s national game has been in trouble for far too long.

The WRU spent £26.7million on professional rugby in 2025 and wants to invest another £28m over five years in the country’s pathway and academy systems which have been neglected for far too long. It says it cannot do that and fund four clubs to the requirements needed for them to be successful. Cutting a team is undoubtedly radical.

There are just fears it might not work. But well-placed sporting and commercial sources – including one who works in the Premier League – have indicated to Daily Mail Sport there is no alternative or ‘silver bullet’ that can provide a much-needed cash injection.

Alex Cadwallader, financial restructuring expert with Leonard Curtis and former rugby player, says: ‘The current financial model in Wales is broken. It doesn’t work. It is loss making and unsustainable. If we continue with the current model, more and more clubs will fail.’

The WRU has been brave in proposing drastic reform, but Collier-Keywood and Tierney’s positions remain under threat, with the WRU’s member clubs threatening an emergency general meeting and a vote of no confidence in their positions for the way they have handled the past year. Whatever happens, it this writer’s opinion that Welsh rugby’s biggest problem is the complete and utter breakdown of trust between the WRU and its stakeholders. While those who love the Ospreys are understandably against moving to three teams, many accept it is the right move.

The problem is that after years of mismanagement, a large number don’t trust the WRU to carry out the proposals effectively. ‘The professional teams, the players, coaches and performance staff are still operating like professionals, but the people at the top aren’t matching those standards,’ says former Wales international Jonathan Davies.

‘If you expect excellence on the pitch, you have to deliver it off the pitch too. It feels like everyone has been kept in the dark for too long.’

While much of the ire directed at the WRU can be justified, it must not be forgotten that the tough decisions being made now have been forced on the current hierarchy by those who came before them. 

Some of the calls made by former WRU chief executive Steve Phillips – chiefly under-investment in the rugby pathway and regional teams while spending large sums elsewhere on projects such as a hotel and a zip wire – have led to where we are now. 

Equally, the actions of Y11 boss James Davies-Yandle in keeping the Ospreys players, coaches, employees and fans in the dark while planning to shut down the club have been nothing short of a disgrace. There is fascination from far and wide in how far Welsh rugby has fallen and so quickly too. The WRU believe cutting a side – and thus splitting their spend on professional rugby three ways and not four – is a necessity. But that is no guarantee of success and there are fears going to three teams is just the start of even further cuts.

At a time when the WRU is struggling financially, it has also continued to spend large sums of money on the salaries of middle management. It has been pointed out to Daily Mail Sport that there should be far more investment in the professional game. Questions have been asked as to why the under-performing Dragons from Newport are also surviving.

The WRU has said: ‘At the professional level the system will be built around three professional men’s teams, replacing the current four-team structure. This will concentrate talent, improve competitiveness and financial stability with per team budgets targeted to start at £6.4m to £7.8m per year by 2030.’

Former Wales and Ospreys hooker Scott Baldwin said: ‘There is a massive disconnect across the whole of Welsh rugby. Everyone thinks it’s right to cut a team, until it’s your club at risk.’

Welsh rugby has become used to operating on a rocky road and that looks unlikely to end anytime soon. There are very understandable concerns that people have already grown sick of Welsh rugby’s ills. The WRU has struggled to sell tickets for its Six Nations home games and the reality is that this weekend, Wales have little chance of winning at Twickenham.

Wales getting back to their best looks a long way off and, in the meantime, there is set to be a heartbreak along the way for the likes of Thomas and Collins and all those who work for or love the Ospreys. Given Welsh rugby’s storied and glorious past, it is all rather sad.