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The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the
governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken g ...
of
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...
in the country of
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, recognised by the sport's international governing body,
World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, overseeing 320 member clubs, the Welsh national team and National Leagues and Cups. The WRU is headed by the President (Gerald Davies), chairman (Ieuan Evans) and CEO Steve Phillips


History

The roots of the Welsh Rugby Union lay in the creation of the South Wales Football Club in September 1875; formed, "...with the intention of playing matches with the principal clubs in the West of England and the neighbourhood. The rugby rules will be the code adopted. The South Wales Football Club was superseded in 1878 by the South Wales Football Union in an attempt to bring greater regulation to the sport and to select representatives from club sides to represent the international game. The SWFU though were poorly organised, and although they arranged fixtures between a South Wales team and various English clubs, they were often victims of fixture-clashes and were accused of lacking energy. In 1880, Richard Mullock, secretary of the Newport Athletic Club, decided to take matters into his own hands and without the backing of the SWFU organised an international match against
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. The
match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
took place on 19 February 1881, and was won by England seven goals, one dropped goal and six tries to nil. This heavy defeat lay the seeds for further reforms that would lead to the creation of the WRU. There is confusion regarding the official date of creation of the Welsh Rugby Union. In March 1880 nine teams supposedly met at the Tenby Hotel, Swansea with the intent of creating a new union. These teams are thought to have been,
Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd) is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after ...
,
Chepstow RFC Chepstow Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the town of Chepstow, in Monmouthshire, Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons with a Mini age groups from under 6's to unde ...
, Haverfordwest RFC, Llandaff RFC, Llanelli RFC, Neath RFC, Newport RFC, Pontypridd RFC and Swansea RFC. The issue with accepting this meeting is that there is no written evidence, just oral repetition. On 12 March 1881, eleven clubs met in the Castle Hotel,
Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and community situated in the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,258 in 2011. Historica ...
to form what would be accepted as a Welsh rugby union. After a humiliating defeat in the first Wales international rugby game, the Neath meeting was organised by Mullock to form a union that could organise regular international matches. The founding clubs of the WFU (Welsh Football Union), as it was originally known, were Swansea C & FC, Pontypool RFC, Newport RFC, Merthyr RFC, Llanelli RFC, Bangor RFC, Brecon RFC,
Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd) is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after ...
, Lampeter RFC, Llandovery RFC and Llandeilo RFC. Strangely the oldest rugby club in Wales, Neath RFC are not recorded as being present, even though the meeting took place in the town of Neath. It is unknown if this was an oversight by the committee to record the presence of the club, or if Neath RFC actually did not attend. The fact that two of the main committee members of the SWFU, John Llewellyn and Sam Clark were Neath men, and the creation of the WFU disbanded their union, is generally accepted as the reason for the absence of a Neath representative. The WRU was a founding member of the International Rugby Football Board, now known as
World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
, in 1886 with
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
and
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, with Mullock and Horace Lyne the Welsh representatives at the formal signing of the union in 1887. It was not until 1934 that the name, the Welsh Rugby Union, was adopted.


Responsibilities

The WRU are responsible for the running of Welsh rugby, including 320 member clubs, the Welsh national team and National Leagues and Cups. The Welsh Rugby Union has a major role in the development of coaches, referees and players throughout all ages for both men and women. They also own the home of Welsh rugby union, the 74,500 capacity
Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national ru ...
, Cardiff, "an icon of the modern Wales". After the national team the next highest level of representation in Wales is the four regions based around top club sides, but representing a larger area. These regions came into being in 2003 when the WRU elected to reduce the current top tier of Welsh professional rugby union from nine clubs into five regions modelled on the successful Irish provinces and the Super Rugby franchises in South Africa, Australia and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
. The WRU had hoped to reduce the teams to four regions but Cardiff and Llanelli successfully argued for stand-alone status. After one year the Celtic Warriors region was closed down and the four surviving regional clubs are Cardiff Blues, Scarlets,
Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
and Newport Gwent Dragons. They play in the
Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...
, European Professional Club Rugby ( Champions Cup and
Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves a ...
) and Anglo-Welsh Cup competitions. Each region may call up players from a set of club teams within their area. These top club sides play in the 14-strong Welsh Premier Division. In August 2008 WRU chief Roger Lewis confirmed that the body was looking at a proposal to reinstate a fifth Welsh region, based in North Wales. Lewis admitted that he regretted the decision in 2004 to close down Celtic Warriors. In September 2008 a new North Wales Rugby development team was announced, likely to be based in
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...
; ultimately, the team was launched as RGC 1404, and was to be based in
Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpor ...
instead of Wrexham. In the same month Llanelli Scarlets changed their name to simply Scarlets, believing the new name would better represent their region beyond
Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's llan (placename element), Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of ...
.


Principals


Presidents

*
Cyril Chambers Cyril Chambers CBE (1897–1975) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1943 to 1958, representing the Labor Party. He was Minister for the Army in the Chifley government from 1946 to 1949. ...
(1881(March)–1881(Sept.)) * Victor Albert George Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey (1881(Sept)–1885) * Sir J.T.D. Llewellyn (1885–1906) * Horace Lyne MBE (1906–1947) *Sir David Rocyn-Jones CBE (1947–1953) * Ernest Davies (1953–1954) *
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MBE (1954–1955) * Major T.H. Vile MBE (1955–1956) * Glyn Stephens (1956–1957) *
Enoch H. Rees Enoch () ''Henṓkh''; ar, أَخْنُوخ ', ommonly in Qur'ānic literature ' is a biblical figure and Patriarchs (Bible)">patriarch prior to Noah's flood, and the son of Jared (biblical figure), Jared and father of Methuselah. He was of th ...
(1957–1958) *
F.G. Phillips FG, fg, or Fg may refer to: Organizations * Falun Gong, a Chinese organization * Fine Gael, an Irish political party * Fallschirmjäger, German paratroopers * FG (restaurant), a Michelin-starred restaurant in Rotterdam, formerly ''Ivy'' Pl ...
(1958–1959) * Lt. Col. P.R. Howells (1959–1960) *
D. Hopkin Thomas D. or d. may refer to, usually as an abbreviation: * Don (honorific), a form of address in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and their former overseas empires, usually given to nobles or other individuals of high social rank. * Date of death, as an abbreviat ...
(1960–1961) * D.E. Davies (1961–1962) *
Wilf Faull Wilf is a masculine given name, most commonly a diminutive form of Wilfred or Wilfrid. It is also a nickname and a surname. People Given name * Wilfred Arthur (1919–2000), Australian World War II fighter ace * Wilf Barber (1901–1968), Engli ...
MBE (1962–1963) *
D. Ewart Davies D. or d. may refer to, usually as an abbreviation: * Don (honorific), a form of address in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and their former overseas empires, usually given to nobles or other individuals of high social rank. * Date of death, as an abbreviat ...
(1963–1964) *
Nathan Rocyn-Jones Nathan Rocyn-Jones (17 July 1902 – 26 January 1984) was a Welsh international rugby union full back who played club rugby for Newport Rugby Football Club and represented Cambridge. He won a single cap for Wales and after retiring from playin ...
(1964–1965) * David Jones (1965–1966) * T.C. Prosser (1966–1967) * Glyn Morgan (1967–1968) * Ivor E. Jones CBE (1968–1969) *
V.C. Phelps VC may refer to: Military decorations * Victoria Cross, a military decoration awarded by the United Kingdom and also by certain Commonwealth nations ** Victoria Cross for Australia ** Victoria Cross (Canada) ** Victoria Cross for New Zealand * ...
(1969–1970) * Kenneth Morgan Harris CBE (1970–1971) *
Rhys E. Williams Rhys or Rhŷs is a popular Welsh given name (usually male) that is famous in Welsh history and is also used as a surname. It originates from Deheubarth, an old region of South West Wales, with famous kings such as Rhys ap Tewdwr. It is pronounce ...
(1971–1972) *
Vernon J. Parfitt Vernon may refer to: Places Australia * Vernon County, New South Wales Canada * Vernon, British Columbia, a city * Vernon, Ontario France *Vernon, Ardèche * Vernon, Eure United States * Vernon, Alabama * Vernon, Arizona * Vernon, Californi ...
(1972–1973) *
Leslie M. Spence Leslie may refer to: * Leslie (name), a name and list of people with the given name or surname, including fictional characters Families * Clan Leslie, a Scottish clan with the motto "grip fast" * Leslie (Russian nobility), a Russian noble family ...
MBE (1973–1974) * Harry Bowcott (1974–1975) * Handel C. Rogers (1975–1976) * Hywel Thomas (1976–1977) *
T. Rowley Jones T is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet. (For the same letterform in the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets, see Te and Tau respectively). T may also refer to: Codes and units * T, Tera- as in one trillion * T, the symbol for "True" in ...
(1977–1978) *
D. Luther James D. or d. may refer to, usually as an abbreviation: * Don (honorific), a form of address in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and their former overseas empires, usually given to nobles or other individuals of high social rank. * Date of death, as an abbreviati ...
(1978–1979) *
Gwyn Roblin Gwyn or Gwynn may refer to: People * Gwyn (name), includes a list of people with the given name or surname Gwyn, including variants such as Gwynn and Gwynne Fictional or mythological characters * Gwyn ap Nudd, in Welsh mythology * Gwynn (''Slug ...
(1979–1980) * Cliff Jones OBE (1980–1981) *
Osmond John Osmond or Osmonds may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Osmond (surname) * Osmund, a list of people with the given name Osmond or Osmund Arts and entertainment * Gilbert Osmond, in the novel '' The Portrait of a Lady'', by Henry James * Osmond Bates, in ...
OBE (1981–1982) *
Hermas Evans Hermas is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Hermas of Dalmatia (1st century), one of the Seventy Disciples, feast day April 8 * Hermas of Philippopolis (1st century), one of the Seventy Disciples, feast day May 31 * ...
(1982–1983) *
Eirwyn Davies Eirwyn is a masculine given name. Origin and meaning Eirwyn is a Welsh masculine given name meaning "white/blessed snow" and derives from the Welsh words " Eira" (snow) and " Gwyn" (white, fair or blessed). Notable People * Eirwyn George (bor ...
(1983–1984) *
Kenneth Gwilym Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a ...
(1984–1985) *
Alun Thomas Alun Gruffydd Thomas (3 February 1926 – 8 May 1991) was a rugby union centre from Cwmavon who played international rugby for Wales between 1952 and 1955. He studied at UCW Aberystwyth and played for the college first team and the newly fou ...
(1985–1986) *
Desmond Barnett Desmond or Desmond's may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Desmond'' (novel), 1792 novel by Charlotte Turner Smith * '' Desmond's'', 1990s British television sitcom Ireland * Kingdom of Desmond, medieval Irish kingdom * Earl of Desmond, Iris ...
(1986–1987) *
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(1987–1988) *
Myrddin Jones Myrddin Wyllt (—"Myrddin the Wild", kw, Marzhin Gwyls, br, Merzhin Gueld) is a figure in medieval Welsh legend. In Middle Welsh poetry he is accounted a chief bard, the speaker of several poems in The Black Book of Carmarthen and The Red ...
(1988–1989) * Clive Rowlands (1989–1990) * G.J. Treharne (1990–1991) *Ieuan Evans (1991–1992) *
Graham Tregidon Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Cla ...
(1992–1993) * Sir Tasker Watkins (1993–2004) * Keith Rowlands (2004–2006(Nov.)) *Glanmor Griffiths (2007(May)- 2007 Oct) * Dennis Gethin (2007 to 2019) * Gerald Davies (2019–present) *
Ray Rowlands RTB RFC Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray ( ...
(2019–present)


Secretaries

* Richard Mullock (1881–1892) * W.H. Gwynn (1892–1896) *
Walter E. Rees Captain Walter Enoch Rees (13 April 1863 – 6 June 1949)Walter E. Rees biograp ...
(1896–1948) * Eric Evans (1948–1955) * William H. Clement OBE (1956–1981) *Ray Williams OBE (1981–1988) * David East (1989) * Denis Evans (1990–1993) * Edward Jones (1993–1996) *
Richard Jasinski Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'str ...
(1996–1997) * Dennis Gethin (1998–2002) Position no longer exists


Honorary Treasurers

* Richard Mullock (1881–1891) *
William H. Wilkins William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
(1891–1903) *
T.R. Griffiths TR or tr may stand for Arts and entertainment Gaming * Tomb Raider, one of the most successful video game franchises * Terminal Reality, an American video game developer * A currency in online game '' TalesRunner'' * The Terran Republic in the ...
(1903–1930) *
Sam West Samuel Filmore West (October 5, 1904 – November 23, 1985) was a center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for three different teams from to . Listed at , 165 lb., West batted and threw left-handed. He was born in Longview, Tex ...
(1930–1934) *
Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...
(1934–1945) *
P.O. Evans Po or PO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Po (Kung Fu Panda), the protagonist of the ''Kung Fu Panda'' franchise * Po, one of the titular '' Teletubbies'' * Po, a character in the novel ''Graceling'' by Kristin Cashore ...
(1946–1952) * Kenneth Morgan Harris (1952–1982) *Glanmor Griffiths (1984–2003) *Studid Lee (Beaufort RFC) *2003 Position terminated.


Rugby Services Agreement

The current Rugby Services Agreement ''(or RSA)'' has been in place since 28 August 2014, and will be in place between the union and the four Welsh regions ( Cardiff Blues, Newport Gwent Dragons,
Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
and Scarlets) for six years. The RSA delivers £8.7million a year to the Regions guaranteed to be spent on Welsh qualified players with a complex matrix of funding, also guaranteeing a further £3.6million in loan facilities from the WRU repayable during the term of the RSA. Each Region also receives a one-off £500,000 payment on signature of the new RSA. The new agreement also allows players to be offered a National Dual Contract (NDC), which means the union will pay 60% of a NDC player's salary and their region 40%. They also become available for all Welsh senior matches, despite if the match falls outside
World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
's international release windows in June and November. The WRU retained the right to play up to 13 senior international games each year with a 13-day release facility for squad training before the Six Nations and Autumn series games. The new agreement does state that the national team head coach, currently Wayne Pivac, will be the sole person to decide who gets a National Dual Contract, with a long-term aim of only selecting players based in Wales. The limit on foreign players in Regional squads has been capped at a maximum of six while each Region will be allowed two so-called time serving players who will be available for Welsh selection after three years residency (rising to five years, effective from 31 December 2020).


Union's Patron

The union's patron is The Prince of Wales.


Criticism


Welsh Language

In 2008 the Welsh Language Society wrote to the WRU outlining a "lack of commitment to the Welsh language" and later held meetings to discuss the matter. In a statement to BBC Wales, a WRU spokesman said that it was reviewing its website and would be having more Welsh on the site.


Logo

The current logo of the Welsh Rugby Union is based on the Prince of Wales's feathers. There have been calls for the WRU to use a logo "more relevant to Wales" as the feathers are associated by some with the "English crown". Pro-independence group
YesCymru YesCymru is a non party-political campaign for an independent Wales. The organisation was formed in the Summer of 2014 and officially launched on 20 February 2016 in Cardiff. In 2022 it became a private company limited by guarantee without sha ...
created mock-up WRU logos using a leek, daffodil and harp instead of the three feathers. Using a
Welsh dragon The Welsh Dragon ( cy, y Ddraig Goch, meaning 'the red dragon'; ) is a heraldic symbol that represents Wales and appears on the national flag of Wales. As an emblem, the red dragon of Wales has been used since the reign of Cadwaladr, King o ...
has also been proposed.


See also

*
Wales national rugby union team The Wales national rugby union team ( cy, Tîm rygbi'r undeb cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played the ...
* Rugby union in Wales * History of rugby union * United Rugby Championship * Welsh Premier Division *
WRU Challenge Cup The WRU Challenge Cup (currently known as the Specsavers Cup due to sponsorship), or its full name of the Welsh Rugby Union Challenge Cup, is Wales' premier knockout rugby union competition and is organised by the Welsh Rugby Union. On 26 Febr ...
* WRU National Leagues * Welsh Rugby Players Association


Bibliography

*


References


External links

* * {{Governing bodies of sports in Wales Rugby union in Wales Sports governing bodies in Wales Organisations based in Cardiff Rugby union governing bodies in Europe 1881 establishments in Wales World Rugby members Sports organizations established in 1881