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Change to regional rugby

A new professional body has been formed by the WRU and the four Welsh Regions. It's objectives will be to retain senior Welsh internationals playing in Wales and achieve four Regions which can effectively compete at the top of European rugby.

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New body created to tackle regional rugby finances

Group Chief Executive for the Welsh Rugby Union, Roger Lewis, has described the formation of a new professional rugby body as a 'landmark moment in the history of Welsh rugby'.

The body is being established by the WRU and the four Welsh Regions to strengthen and develop professional rugby in Wales.

It's been created following an independent review into regional rugby in Wales earlier this year.

The damning report questioned the survival of some of the regions and strongly recommended more collaboration between the Welsh Rugby Union and regions.

The Professional Regional Game Board will play a significant role in helping regional rugby make real progress in the years ahead.

The PwC report did not make easy reading for anyone involved and the boards and management of the regions should be proud of the way they have confronted some tough realities to reach this point.

A lot of hard work lies ahead, but the PRGB offers us a management structure capable of making the tough but realistic decisions which will benefit the game as a whole. Over the course of the next twelve months we have to build a foundation for the future.

– Roger Lewis, Group Chief Executive, WRU

The board will be made up of four members of the WRU, four members of the Regions and an Independent Chair.

The new PRGB board will form a working group, within the umbrella body Regional Rugby Wales, to look specifically at the finances and sustainability of the regions.

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