It is understood that chairman of Glamorgan Cricket and former investment banker Mark Rhydderch-Roberts was interviewed on a shortlist of three

Former investment banker and Glamorgan Cricket Club chairman, Mark Rhydderch-Roberts, called for the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to pause plans to reduce the number of professional regions from four to three during a shortlist interview to become the union’s next chairman, it is understood.

The WRU has this conducted face-to-face interviews with three shortlisted candidates in Cardiff for the position of independent non-executive chairman, following the departure of Richard Collier-Keywood over the summer.

The interviewing panel consisted of board members John Manders, Alison Thorne, Amanda Bennett, Andrew Williams and Marianne Okland.

Following his interview, we understand that Mr Rhydderch-Roberts, who played rugby for Bath and Pontypridd and is also currently an executive director of Pontypridd RFC, was informed by the headhunters appointed by the WRU, GatenbySanderson, that he had not been successful.

The board had been keen for Mr Collier-Keywood to continue for a further three-year term and oversee its strategy of reducing the number of regions while investing more heavily in the game’s rugby pathways. The reason for his departure remains unclear, but his exit after a three-year term left a vacancy at the helm of the WRU board.

Former senior partner of global management consultancy McKinsey and Company, Harry Bowcott, whose grandfather Henry Morgan Bowcott played for Wales in the inter-war years and later became a WRU president, is also understood to have made the final shortlist. It is understood that the interviewing process has yet to conclude.

Mr Rhydderch-Roberts declined to comment. However, a source with knowledge of the interviewing process said:”Mark was unequivocal that, if appointed, he would call for the plans to reduce the number of regions to be put on hold. . He also indicated that without radical solutions to the huge challenges currently facing Welsh rugby there is a very real danger of it becoming tier two permanently.

“He was also pretty robust in arguing that the WRU should immediately open negotiations with the RFU and owners of the English Premiership clubs to secure places for two Welsh clubs in the English Premiership as soon as possible, with a view to adding the other two in due course. He also said he would be supportive of a British and Irish League.”

Crickhowell-born Mr Rhydderch-Roberts had a 28-year career in investment banking, during which he held senior positions at a number of global financial institutions, including UBS Warburg, Schroders and Swiss Re.

As well as serving as chairman of Glamorgan and co-chair of Hundred competition franchise team Welsh Fire, he also chairs the International Convention Centre Wales.

The source added: “He did not accept that having four professional regions was financially unsustainable and outlined a number of funding options for the union to generate much-needed new revenues.

“Mark’s view was that anyone taking on the chairmanship couldn’t do so having already endorsed the union’s existing position that the number of regions needed to be reduced. Any candidate, given their fiduciary duties, would first want to consider the business case presented by the executive team, endorsed by the board, underpinning the union’s decision to cut a region.”

Cricket is a global sport that benefits hugely from the support and commercial interest in India. We also understand that in his interview Mr Rhydderch-Roberts also outlined how the Hundred franchise Welsh Fire has attracted a new younger and diverse audience into cricket and turbocharged the commercial development of the women’s game.

He also focused on an optimistic vision and an end to managed decline, setting an ambitious and positive commercial and strategic direction of travel for the game in Wales. This would see a shift in emphasis towards traditional clubs, schools and community rugby and a pivotal role in the elite path for Welsh universities competing in the BUCS super league, as well as a single national academy.

He was interviewed on a condition of being able to retain his cricket roles.

Separately, the so-called “coalition of the willing”, which includes former Hodge Bank and Principality Building Society chief operating officer Rob Regan and GoCompare founder Hayley Parsons, is seeking the support of member clubs for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), with a motion to remove the union’s board. This doesn’t have to be the entire board, but potentially just the current non-executive directors and not the newly appointed chair.

If successful, the group would install a new interim board and pause plans to reduce the number of regions.

Under section 62 of the WRU’s articles of association, a no-confidence resolution would require just a majority of clubs voting at the EGM to be passed. To be quorate, it would require 95 members in attendance. Proxy and remote electronic voting would be permissible.

For the EGM to be held, it would first need the backing of 10% of the 282 member clubs. If the threshold is achieved, the union would have 21 days to formally acknowledge the request and schedule the meeting. This would usually be around a month later. The coalition of the willing has set a target of getting the backing of 150 clubs ahead of any EGM, which could prove a tall order.

If the board were ousted, or a number of named directors removed, a temporary board would have to be created, made up of representatives from the districts – but not those currently on the board. They would not need club approval to bolster their ranks by bringing in external people with commercial expertise.

The group would then scrutinise the data underpinning the WRU’s decision, while exploring alternative funding avenues, including the possibility of a rugby bond, with the aim of maintaining four regions in the long term. It will also look at what risk assessment was undertaken by the union on the impact of losing a region, both economically and on the game. However, the group has said that reducing the number of regions could not be ruled out.

The WRU plans to reduce the professional regions from four to three from the start of the 2028-29 season, with just one club based in west Wales.

With the Scarlets and Ospreys currently having no plans to merge, the two clubs could find themselves bidding against each other – assuming both agree to participate – for a single west Wales licence.

The WRU has said it will shortly publish details of the bidding process, including how competing bids will be assessed and scored. The union is expected to open the process in December, with a decision on the holder of the west Wales licence due next spring.

The developments come as Swansea Council, potentially alongside other parties, has revived legal action against the WRU, claiming that the governing body has breached competition law by effectively protecting the Dragons and Cardiff, the latter of which it owns, as two of the planned three regions.

The WRU remains confident it will successfully defend the legal challenge.