Gareth Davies: North Wales is a bright light in Welsh rugby

Dear North Wales rugby supporters

Why should North Wales clubs support me? I’m not standing on behalf of any region, club, district or faction.

I respect the tremendous work Dai Davies, and others, have done with the North Wales Rugby Council.

The development of RGC 1404, based on the hard work of Marc Roberts, Chris Horsman, Damian McGrath and others is the one bright light in these dark days of Welsh rugby.

I fully support the work that has been done and the work that is yet to be done. It is only right that a region of a million people have a route to top-class rugby.

The talent is obviously here, Harri Evans, Afon Bagshaw, Olly Cracknell and Morgan Williams prove that. RGC finishing third in the Championship in only their second season proves that.

While the restructuring of the leagues in South Wales does not affect the North Wales leagues, we need to be looking at the whole picture.

All the elements are interconnected.

The money from the international games helps finance the community game, which discovers the talent, which the regional teams develop, that feeds into the national team.

That is as true in North Wales as anywhere else. With no Flint RFC there would be no Afon Bagshaw playing for RGC and Wales under-20s. Without Clwb Rygbi Caernarfon where would Morgan Williams have started his rugby journey?

The questions I’ve been asked most often since I announced my intention to allow my name to go forward for election have been: “Why?” and “Who will you represent?”

As I’ve said in my letter to all the WRU member clubs, I’ve been involved in rugby since my childhood.

I played in the amateur days, for Cardiff, Wales, the Lions and the Barbarians. During the professional era I’ve been involved in sports broadcasting. I’ve recently returned from Leeds Metropolitan University – a university with close links with both Leeds Carnegie rugby union and rugby league teams.

I am now chief executive of the Newport Gwent Dragons. I believe that this breadth of experience gives me an unrivalled viewpoint of Welsh rugby.

But we all know the problems apparent in Welsh rugby.

The disconnect between the professional regional game and the governing body has led to Sam Warburton, the captain of Wales and the British Lions to be without a club.

We had Adam Jones, again a Wales and Lions player, training by himself. If reports are to be believed, Luke Charteris is preferring to stay in France rather than return to the confusion that surrounds the professional game here.

This cannot be to the advantage of anyone. I am asked almost daily by friends and colleagues in the rugby world outside of Wales “What on earth is going on?”

The restructuring of the leagues in South Wales below the Championship has obviously not been thought through.

There has not been enough consultation. There is talk of clubs folding, of mis-matches between clubs leading to teams refusing to play. Who benefits from this?

From the elite level to community level there are problems.

Yes our national team has been successful in recent years, but that won’t continue if our best players are plying their trade abroad. Where will the next George North, Shane Williams or Ken Owens come from if the community clubs close? We can’t solve just one part of the problem, it has to be looked at as a whole.

There is no simple answer.

But I do believe that I have the experience of business, an understanding of Welsh rugby and most importantly the support and goodwill of most players, administrators and fans to address the problem.

So who will I represent? Will I be on the board to advance the cause of the regions in general and the Dragons in particular? The simple answer to those questions is “No”. I am standing for election as an individual. I am standing to offer my services, based on my experience of rugby and commerce. I am not standing for personal gain or glory. I want to help drag the game I love, the game that has given me so much, back from the edge of this abyss that we find ourselves.

My greatest strength is the fact that I do not represent anyone. I have no axe to grind. The only reason I’m standing is that if I didn’t, and the worst was to happen, and let’s not kid ourselves that is not beyond the realms of possibility, I could never look at myself in the mirror again. It pains me to see the game I love, in the country I love, being torn apart. It is time for clear heads, calm voices and reason.

That is why I ask you for your support, not for my benefit and not for the benefit of any one section – but for the benefit of rugby, at every level and in every region and district of Wales so we can begin to heal this rift before it goes too far.

Diolch, Gareth Davies

Article source: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/lifestyle/active-2014/city-rugby-event-to-be-scrum-thing-special-161700n.24063876

Gareth Davies: North Wales is a bright light in Welsh rugby