Former Wales Centre Jonathan Davies Suggests Reducing Regions to Three Would Improve Welsh Rugby

Jonathan Davies, a former Wales centre who earned 96 caps for his country and participated in six Tests across two British and Irish Lions tours, contends that decreasing the number of Welsh rugby regions from four to three would elevate the sport’s quality in Wales. The Wales men’s national team has experienced a streak of 12 consecutive international losses, marking the most prolonged losing run in its 143-year existence. Regionally, the Ospreys were the sole Welsh team to conclude the 2023-24 United Rugby Championship table in the upper half, and currently, Welsh regions hold two of the bottom three positions this season. Furthermore, the 2024-25 season represents the first instance where no Welsh team is participating in the premier European rugby competition. The salary budgets for each of the four Welsh regions have been reduced to £4.5m. In contrast, Scotland, which has only two teams, sees Glasgow and Edinburgh operating with budgets nearer to £8m. “If we went down a region it would make the quality of the product better,” Davies stated during an appearance on Scrum V: The Warm Up. He added, “The squads would be stronger and there’d be more resources [per team] from funding.” Davies further emphasized, “The main aim is to get Welsh rugby back to where it should be, competing and winning games across the board.” He concluded, “Until egos are in a place where we are all behind one common goal, we will not get that.” The role of Wales men’s head coach, Warren Gatland, is currently being reviewed following a year described as historically poor. Gatland’s team has completed an entire calendar year without securing a Test victory, a situation not seen since 1937. The international retirements of prominent players in recent years, including Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, George North, Ken Owens, and Dan Biggar, compelled both Gatland and his predecessor, Wayne Pivac, to utilize younger, less seasoned athletes. Davies highlighted the performance history of the nation’s Under-20s squad, further stating that insufficient achievement at the academy level has affected the senior team. He remarked, “The quality we have put out in the last 18 months, as Welsh rugby, has not been to the standard we would like.” He elaborated, “If you look at the Under-20s over the last eight years, the best they have done [in the Under-20s Six Nations] is third.” Davies continued, “They’ve been in the bottom half of the U20s Six Nations for seven years feeding into the men’s team, which has then not had that quality.” He concluded, “There is more to be done at an academy level.”