The WRU is facing an EGM following the Six Nations
The Welsh Rugby Union has officially received a requisition from the Central Glamorgan Rugby Union calling for an extraordinary general meeting.
Such a request has thrown the WRU’s plans to restructure the professional game into doubt and has thrown the game into a period of even greater uncertainty. This is the first time an EGM has been called since 2023, which led to a significant reform of the governance of the WRU following recommendations from Dame Anne Rafferty.
But when will the EGM take place, what are the key proposals and what does it seek to change?
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When will it be held?
A date has not yet been set but the WRU has up to 49 days to hold the EGM.
Within 21 days of receiving the formal letter calling the EGM, the WRU must set a date. Once notice is given, the EGM itself must be held within 28 days.
In reality the EGM will be held at the conclusion of the Six Nations.
The background to the EGM?
The call for an EGM results from significant backlash to the WRU’s controversial plans to restructure the professional game.
Following a few years of extremely poor results at international level, including back-to-back Wooden Spoons in the Six Nations and struggles among Wales’ four professional clubs, the WRU decided it needed to enact radical change.
The headline act is a reduction from four to three professional men’s teams with the Ospreys in the firing line.
On top of this the WRU is proposing to invest £20m into the pathway over the next five years which includes 12 player development centres, two centres of excellence and a national academy.
The WRU says it cannot make significant investments into the pathway and retain four strong professional clubs.
But the way it has been handled and communicated has angered many people.
The WRU recently chose Ospreys owners Y11 Sports & Media as its preferred bidder for Cardiff and granted them a 60-day period of exclusivity.
Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart, one of the WRU’s many critics, insists this would lead to the end of the Ospreys as a professional team.
He claims that in a meeting with Ospreys CEO Lance Bradley and WRU CEO Abi Tierney he was told the plan was for the Ospreys to merge with Swansea RFC to become a semi-professional Super Rygbi Cymru outfit. Both the WRU and Y11 say the claims relating to that meeting contain inaccuracies, with Bradley insisting he has made no statement on the long term future of the Ospreys.
Swansea Council has urged the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate Y11’s potential purchase of Cardiff, and they have also attempted to get a high court injunction to delay the deal.
Both WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood and CEO Tierney have also appeared before the Welsh Affairs Committee in Westminster while there have been numerous protests from supporters.
In addition the WRU is also facing a legal challenge from the Scarlets, relating to their takeover of Cardiff last year.
The criticism has been ferocious with most of the blame placed on Collier-Keywood.
But there is also a school of thought that one of the underlying reasons for the EGM is to unpick the governance changes implemented as a result of the Rafferty Report in 2023.
The Rafferty Report resulted from accusations of a toxic culture within the WRU.
As a result of recommendations put forward by the Rafferty report, the WRU’s structure changed significantly at the previous EGM in 2023. The number of council (community club) members on the board was reduced to four to create a far more professional board.
The motions being tabled
The full requisition to the board is private and has not been released to the public but WalesOnline understands it is the same as what the Central Glamorgan Rugby Union proposed last month.
It is worth noting the WRU is still verifying all the documents sent in and will make explicit which motions will be voted on when it officially calls the EGM.
For the EGM the first issue for consideration will be whether the submission by Central Glamorgan satisfies the requirement under the constitution. In other words, have they secured sufficient numbers and have all the letters been properly authorised?
But the main motion being tabled by the Central Glamorgan Rugby Union is a vote of no confidence in Collier-Keywood and Malcolm Wall, the chair of the Professional Rugby Board.
Wall’s tenure ends next month anyway and according to well-placed sources it was always his plan to retire.
But if Collier-Keywood is voted out that would be a seismic move, although his three-year tenure expires this summer.
This would require a majority of more than 50% of those in attendance to pass.
The second motion tabled would be for the WRU council to hold elections for the four elected member board positions within 14 days after the EGM, which requires more than 50% of the vote.
In addition the third motion is to amend how the WRU district and council members are elected, which will require a 75% majority.
But according to section 36 of the WRU’s articles of association:
“No alteration may be made to the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company unless such alteration has:
(a) in accordance with the Act been approved by a special resolution of the Members (75 percent of those present and voting) passed at the annual general meeting or an extraordinary general meeting of the Company; and
(b) in the case of an extraordinary general meeting been proposed by the Board of Directors.”
If the WRU follows its articles of association to the letter then motion three can only be put forward by the member clubs at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) not an EGM.
Only the WRU board can propose it for an EGM.
In addition the CGMRU is recommending the following:
- Plans to amend the structure of the professional game, with a full review of WRU finances and organisation structure to be undertaken to identify where money can be saved (executive and board salaries, consultants) to support the professional, SRC and community game in Wales.
- A rugby steering group to be set up within three weeks comprising of people from the professional, SRC and community game along with business sector. This group will be directed to advise on rugby related matters and negate the need for expensive consultants.
- A central national academy to be set up within three months to be totally responsible for the identification and development of talent for male and female players.
- Except for the WRU chief executive and chair and the Professional Rugby Board (PRB) chair, no directors (independent non-executive or WRU council members) should be paid.
- The new WRU chair and PRB chair appointments should be immersed in Welsh culture, have a strong understanding of Welsh rugby and values, ideally be conversant in the Welsh language and live in Wales.”
Under the articles of association the WRU board does not need to act on the above demands but if they did not it would leave a lot of bad blood within certain sections of the community game.
For an EGM to be quorate a third of member clubs have to be present on the day.
What are the potential ramifications of an EGM?
To begin with, Collier-Keywood faces a race against time to get the new structure signed off before an EGM in order to make the changes irreversible.
He also has to consider whether it is morally right to do so considering a large part of the EGM is based on halting the restructuring of the professional game.
“The WRU published its plans for the Future of the Elite Game in Wales at the end of October 2025, following an extensive consultation process,” read a WRU statement.
“We are now focused on rolling out that plan and have been working tirelessly with the key stakeholders during the last months to agree a consensus on its implementation.”
According to the above WRU statement it does not plan to halt any restructuring.
The WRU has already given Swansea Council assurances that the Y11 deal to buy Cardiff will not be completed before March 16 which is just two days after Wales’ final match of the Six Nations against Italy.
With regard to the new licences for the three surviving professional teams the WRU is having a tough time getting the Dragons and Scarlets to accept their terms.
The WRU wants total control of the rugby side of each team, which will also include centrally contracting all Welsh-qualified players and staff.
But the WRU still requires the funding directors to pay the £1m licence fee and to put a significant sum of money in each year.
This is not acceptable to the current funding directors. WalesOnline understands there are a number of senior figures within the WRU who are prepared to compromise in order to get a deal done but Collier-Keywood will not budge at all.
Clearly if Collier-Keywood wants to get the new structure in place before an EGM then he will have to drop some of his demands.
If Collier-Keywood loses the vote of no confidence, they will need to find a replacement chair for the WRU board and PRB board with Wall set to leave.
Potential replacements for Collier-Keywood could include former First Minister Carwyn Jones, former chair Gareth Davies, current WRU INED Andrew Williams and Alison Thorne or Go Compare founder Hayley Parsons.
The clubs can get rid of Collier-Keywood but would have little say over his successor because this will be a matter for the non-executive members, not the clubs.
The 12-strong WRU board consists of the chair, CEO, PRB chair, four elected members – Colin Wilks, Chris Jones, John Manders and Claire Donovan who was appointed to promote the women’s game.
It also includes four independent non-executive directors – Andrew Williams, Jamie Roberts, Jennifer Mathias, Alison Thorne and Amanda Bennett.
If the second motion passes then elections will take place for the positions held by Wilks, Jones, Manders and Donovan.
There is also the age old argument of whether the community clubs should have any say over the professional game.
Despite the call for an EGM it is unclear how much of an appetite there is for change.
This writer sat through the AGM last November where not a single question was asked about the restructuring of the professional game despite having ample opportunity to do so.
Some may not be concerned about the strategic direction of the pro game but may vote to oust Collier-Keywood because rightly or wrongly they feel he does not understand Welsh rugby culture.
People will vote for various reasons, not just what’s on the ballot paper.
But the biggest question would be whether a change at an EGM would actually stop the restructuring of the professional game.
Even if Collier-Keywood is gone, it’s crucial to recognise the entire WRU board voted for a cut from four to three teams and they also unanimously backed the decision to accept Y11’s bid for Cardiff.
Ousting the chairman does not mean the four team plan dies with his exit, with the board, and in fact senior figures at some of the regions, believing reducing sides is the best way to go to fund the improvement in pathways and the elite system needed.
There’s also the fact that any new chair, who would be appointed by the board, may well come to the same conclusion, even if the route to getting there is different.
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