The grassroots game: What's the future for Welsh rugby?

It’s a sport considered at the heart of Welsh culture, but in recent years the grassroots game of rugby has come with its ups and downs with many clubs expressing their concern about dwindling numbers both on and off the pitch.

“Rugby is the sport of Wales, but I think culturally we’re changing."

These are the words of the Chairman at Pontllanfraith Rugby Club. Simon Deneen has gone from player to coach of his hometown club and has been a part of Pontllanfraith for the last 30 years.

“I started back in ‘84. When I started in Pontllanfraith we had three sides, youth side and four or five junior sides. I used to walk in the club after a game on a Saturday and it would be bouncing. It isn’t anymore. I mean we’ve got a decent player, that has certainly reduced and if we get injuries or unavailabilities it then becomes difficult to put a side out and I think a lot of clubs are in the same position.” says Simon.

Just like clubs up and down Wales, training night is a chance to escape the pressures of daily life, so why has participation become such a problem for this team.

Players at Pontllanfraith RFC say clubs are finding it difficult to survive.

“We’ve come down here 12 o’clock for a meeting and we’ve been told half an hour later we can’t get a team.” says Matthew Davis who’s one of the senior players.

Robert Protheroe also plays for Pontllanfraith and says it’s difficult to survive at the moment. “I think last season we probably had four or five games cancelled. It’s been two season and one of those times has been us.”

The numbers of players registered in Wales is massive. The highest in the whole northern hemisphere compared to the population with 1 in every 37 people registered to play rugby.

This is more than Scotland,France, Ireland and it’s not even comparable to England.

But perhaps rugby’s biggest challenge is one out of its control. Communities of 2018 are often far removed from the ones of old. Some believe it is a shift far deeper than simply sport.

Alex McInch is an academic at Cardiff Metropolitan University. He says a number of factors have changed traditional community club sports.

“We're seeing shifting patterns in sport and physical activity participation. There are geographical influences so in towns and cities for example there are more things on offer and people are trying to individualise things like going to the gym.”

Despite a shift in sport participation, rugby is also adapting and most importantly thriving in some areas.

Pontyclun mini’s are a booming local club. Numbers here are as big as the players dreams.

Marcus Foster is one of the coaches and he says the future’s bright for young players.

“The kids here are doing well, they’re enjoying it. This is where it starts. This is where the guys learn their basic skills that takes them on to the play the elite game."

There hasn’t been a been a shortage of ideas for how to freshen things up in Wales.

Clubs and the WRU have implemented changes such as moving junior rugby to the summer, a greater focus on the women’s game and helping to educate coaches. It’s all given the game new impetus.

Llandaff North have have started an Under 17s team to ensure the sustainability of a youth and future first team at the club. It’s all part of an initiative introduced by the Welsh Rugby Union as a way of tackling the drop-off at youth level. A stepping stone into senior club rugby. The biggest obstacle for them has been finding other U17s clubs to play against them according to coach Jeff Cruise.

The WRU say their "eyes are very much open to changing societal demands."

They say they've come up with "range of initiatives which embrace the future by trialling new formats, playing environments, seasonal structures and collaborative partnerships to broaden the appeal of rugby union in Wales which is fundamental to rugby participation."

The challenges rugby face are, like many other sports, ever changing.

Wherever it goes it will always have its place in Welsh sporting culture. It will always be rugby, but maybe just not as we know it.

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