Scarpreys? Or Osplets?

[Sandydragon]

And what, there's 30k in Colwyn?

Depends on how many Scousers fancy a day by the sea.

No where in North Wales really lends itself to a pro rugby team, I suppose the Colwyn Bay set up is at least accessible. But this is a very real risk. I’m a long way from being convinced that the dissolution of a team in the heartlands of Welsh rugby is worth it.

Every town is just tiny and because of the transport links it takes ages to get between everywhere...

Except Wrexham, I guess, but is there really the appetite there for a rugby team?

Coming from someone who lived in North Wales, it just doesn't make any sense...

Agreed. I’d like to see the business plan for this, because I suspect welsh government politics are playing a part here.

[Sandydragon]

Oh, and parts of North Wales have the lowest average salaries in the UK, plus predictably high unemployment. That would include Colwyn Bay.

Where is the money coming from for this team?

[Stom]

Oh, and parts of North Wales have the lowest average salaries in the UK, plus predictably high unemployment. That would include Colwyn Bay.

Where is the money coming from for this team?

Indeed, that coastline is like a scene out of a post apocalyptic nightmare. Complete with Aviva Trains Wales...

What was it: the place with the lowest life expectancy in the UK was Rhyl?

[Son of Mathonwy]

So the merger's off??
Does that mean the North Wales thing is off too?
Will the Ospreys now merely continue their decline or is there actually some hope?
And what actually went on...do the Ospreys really have something to be angry about, or is the WRU's version the truth?

[Sandydragon]

So it would appear.

No one comes out of this smelling of roses, but I have a feeling that the Ospreys need to be careful blaming everyone else for this, too much points to their proactive involvement.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Hope this can be settled soon so the players can renew contracts etc.

Or is it just being kicked to touch till the 6N are done?

[Sourdust]

Trying to read between the lines, it looks to me as if Os accepted the premise of a merger and approached Scarlets (and Blues?) to explore it, but the approach was somehow leaked as "Sc/Os Merger is a done deal" which made them feel compromised. Easy to see why if so. It does make the strength of their response risky though, I agree.

[Sandydragon]

Trying to read between the lines, it looks to me as if Os accepted the premise of a merger and approached Scarlets (and Blues?) to explore it, but the approach was somehow leaked as "Sc/Os Merger is a done deal" which made them feel compromised. Easy to see why if so. It does make the strength of their response risky though, I agree.

This rumour has been doing the rounds for a few weeks so it’s possible they got upset by that (understandably) or didn’t get the deal they wanted.

[Son of Mathonwy]

I hope we get to see the minutes.

My best guess at what's happened is that the PRB/WRU have been strongly pressuring the Ospreys to find a partner to merge with, perhaps with the threat of becoming a development region. They've gone to both Scarlets and Blues but ultimately only been given terms which are more-or-less a takeover, which is (of course) unacceptable to the region and IMO bad for Wales (since rugby would lose most of the Ospreys supporters). This is educated guesswork, of course. Let's see those minutes... but after the 6N, please.

I broadly agree with Moffett's "blueprint" for the reset. I'd move the Dragons north to make a new region, or split them between the North and a newly christened South-East Wales team (created from the Blues) centred on or near Cardiff. South-East Wales would take over the Dragons' region. At the same time it would make sense to give some of Cardiff's most Westerly feeder clubs to the Ospreys, and so spread out the three South Wales regions.

But hell, anything which doesn't destroy any of the three more successful regions.