Pro14 2019/2020

Talk of Scarlets and Ospreys merging to become one side and a new side being set up in North Wales in Colwyn Bay. This would be a massive change to Welsh rugby, having their two most historically successful sides being merged. This has really come as a shock to me, personally I'd hate to see it happen, as it could take a while for the new side to develop and we could end up with another Aironi, who may eventually fold. This could really test Welsh Regional rugby, and may see them drop away altogether as players move away from Wales altogether. This is major news for the league and is being mooted to happen as soon as next season.

www.the42.ie/scarlets-ospreys-merge-wels...gby-4523998-Mar2019/

Edit: This really puts into perspective how good we have it over here. Forgetting the time that shall not be mentioned, we've enjoyed relative stability in the "club" game since professionalism comapred with our Welsh, Scottish and Italian counterparts. Makes me very glad at the work that's been done by the IRFU. But with things like this and the whole World League thing makes it seem like big changes are on the cards in the near future for pro Rugby.

My initial thoughts on this, are that it makes very little sense.
Why merge the two best/most successful teams?

But I dont know enough about Welsh rugby. Seems North Wales has a lot of fans, and deserve a team.
And really, that's what should count. You want teams to exist where the fans are, not where the money is.

Anyway, hopefully, this turns out to be a good thing, and it increases fan numbers at the Welsh grounds

Can't really comment on the situation in Wales because I know feck all about it, but it does highlight how lucky we were to have 4 pre-existing provinces to move forward with when the game went professional. Our setup is the envy of many countries, but I don't think it can be mimicked because you can't just rewrite history. For them, the teams will end up being more like american franchises than Irish provinces IMO, and that is a much tougher sell. Very tricky, and seriously disruptive while it's going on. You can understand why the Ospreys players weren't exactly on top form at the weekend.

Let's hope Scarlets are staying focused and tonk Cardiff when they meet in a few week's time!

This is going to ruin my result comparison thread

Ospreys now swearing blind that they never agreed to the merger. Welsh Professional Rugby Board basically calling them liars. Weirder and weirder.

www.the42.ie/ospreys-statement-4525467-Mar2019/

CONN8 wrote: Can anybody tell me how this is going to affect qualifying for the European champions cup.

What happens if Scarlets finish 3rd and then get disbanded?

It's very much a takeover, not a merger, however it's phrased, so there's no chance of Scarlets disbanding. As it stands the only Welsh sides with any chance of HEC qualification are Cardiff and Scarlets who will still exist next season. It would have been interesting, to say the least, if Ospreys were still in the mix.

In late December, the Scarlets received a high-level approach from the Ospreys to explore the option of a merger as they had come to the conclusion that their position as tenants at the Liberty Stadium was proving to be challenging.
This was discussed at the two-day strategy meeting of PRB on January 8th and 9th. The loss of a region would have put Welsh rugby in breach of its commitment to having four regions playing in the major competitions. As a result, the option of a team playing out of North Wales was raised. By the time of the next PRB meeting on February 5, discussions had broken down between the Scarlets and Ospreys and we were told that the Ospreys and another region were in talks over a possible merger, again with North Wales being the option to maintain four teams.

Subsequently, those discussions also broke down and we were approached again last week by the Ospreys to reconsider a merger. Heads of terms were agreed and signed by the Ospreys and Scarlets on March 1 on terms we believe our supporters would be happy with. This was to be proposed at a meeting of the PRB on Tuesday afternoon, but we were told at the start of that meeting that the Ospreys had changed their mind. The merger is off the table.

www.scarlets.wales/en/team-news/articles...pporters-everywhere/

So it appears it will not be the status quo next year - will Ospreys relocate NFL style to the North or just disappear and be replaced by "North Wales"?

Though the local council owns the freehold on the stadium, Swansea took a 37-year (effectively the rest of its expected lifespan) lease on it in 2017, making them the dominant partner.