Wales

Welsh board 'couldn't run a corner shop'

ESPN Staff

Man under fire - Roger Lewis, the boss of the WRU © Getty Images Enlarge In Focus: The future of European rugby | Welsh rugby civil war

Peter Thomas, the chairman of the Cardiff Blues, has launched a stinging attack on the Welsh Rugby Union as the deadline for a decision on whether the regions break away from the board approaches.

The regions have given the board until Friday to support the breakaway Champions' Cup. If it does not - and that seems unlikely - then the four will almost certainly go their own way. And it is reported England's Premiership clubs and the four Welsh regions have signed contracts for a 16-team Aviva Premiership from next season and will announce their intentions on Friday.

"The regions have offers on the table to play in the Champions' Cup or a British and Irish Cup," Thomas told the Rugby Paper in an exclusive interview. "For God's sake, the Irish, Scottish and Welsh Unions have to wake up and make a decision. If they don't do that by January 31, we have to move on. Why? Because we have no alternative but to move on for the sake of the players, the supporters, the investors and Welsh rugby as a whole.

"The product we have in the Pro12 is not selling. To be blunt, we don't have a product. We are in the wrong competition. The WRU are not making any decisions. With them it's all about control. They don't look at the bigger picture. They couldn't run a corner shop.

"They should not be in the positions they have been elected to be in. It's time for this lot to move on and time for other people on the WRU, like Gerald Davies, to stand up."

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