Welsh rugby ‘on a precipice’ after shocking year

Another shocking year of Welsh rugby is about to come to an end.

After a haunting 2024, there was a gloom about how things would not get worse in 2025, but that optimism soon vanished.

Terms like ‘ laughing stock ‘ have been used to describe the current crisis state of Welsh rugby. With regard to the past year’s events, it’s difficult to disagree.

There have been numerous record defeats, wooden spoons, high-profile resignations, Cardiff’s administration, top domestic rugby players leaving, and yet more disputes between the regions and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).

“Welsh rugby is on the precipice”. It’s difficult to disagree with former Ospreys head coach Sean Holley’s opinion on Scrum V.

The Welsh rugby international team is regarded as the pinnacle of the sport.

Two victories against Japan this year and remaining in the top 12 to prevent a harder World Cup pool draw may be viewed as progress, despite not having won a Test match in 2024.

Not really.

Wales have three men’s head coaches in 2025, extended their unfavorable record to 18 successive Test defeats, lost to a second consecutive Six Nations clean sweep of defeats, and been humiliated in Cardiff with record home defeats against England, Argentina, and South Africa.

10 games and 10 losses That was the dismal record of Wales ‘ two national sides in the 2025 Six Nations over the space of 86 difficult days.

It was a miserable three months as both teams finished at rock bottom, from the 43-0 Friday night Paris mauling suffered by the men’s side in January to the 44-12 hammering suffered by Italy’s women in late April.

Before Steve Tandy was appointed as the autumn international manager, Matt Sherratt took over as the interim boss for the rest of the Six Nations and the summer tour of Japan after Warren Gatland left in February after being defeated by Italy in Rome.

There might have been a change of personnel but the chastening days will live long in the memory for all the wrong reasons.

How could it be topped by losing 68-14 and handing away 10 tries in March to England at the Principality Stadium?

That was before South Africa’s 73-0 defeat at the end of November, which was the second-worst outcome in Welsh rugby’s history. Those two days have been among the bleakest known.

When two players, captain Jac Morgan and scrumhalf Tomos Williams, were named in the British and Irish Lions’ touring party in Australia, it was no surprise.

In the winning score, Morgan replaced him and brought about a contentious, crucial clearout that put the series and the second Test in order.

With smaller squads and limited resources, the regional game has again had problems both on and off the field.

With no side qualifying for the Champions Cup in the 2024-25 season – when the final was held in Cardiff – Scarlets made Europe’s elite tournament for this campaign by finishing in the top eight of the United Rugby Championship (URC).

In the 2025-26 campaign, Cardiff are flying the flag, finishing third overall, with Scarlets and Dragons in the bottom two spots.

Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan, who play rugby in Wales, are leaving the soap opera to join Gloucester next season, according to news in December.

Off-the-field headlines were dominated by Cardiff after going into administration in April before being taken over by the WRU.

The governing body of Welsh rugby announced in October that they wanted to cut one of the four professional sides by reducing the number to three, with one for the west and east and one for Cardiff.

The WRU had hoped a consensus decision could be reached before the end of the year, but that goal was not realized as negotiations continued.

One solution proposed seeing Ospreys owners buying Cardiff and another possibility is a straight shootout between Scarlets and Ospreys.

The process will be called out for tender if issues aren’t resolved, which could take six months.

In the spring, when Wales will be attempting to avoid a third straight defeat at the Six Nations, the process may still be going on.

Lake cited the uncertainty in Welsh rugby – and not knowing whether Ospreys would exist in its current form next season – as major factors in his decision to move and that should set alarms bells ringing.

It’s unknown whether other leading players will follow Lake and Morgan’s footsteps in leaving.

What could be accomplished by the two Boxing Day derbies, which attracted almost 25 000 fans.

Director of rugby and head of elite performance Dave Reddin, chair Richard Collier-Keywood, and chief executive Abi Tierney, who will return to the workforce in January after receiving cancer treatment, are the people in charge of the WRU change process.

The faith in the ability of this trio to instigate and implement change is under intense scrutiny.

In a pre-Christmas message, the WRU outlined what it claimed to have accomplished in 2025 while also expressing how difficult the year has been and why significant changes in Welsh rugby are required.

Whatever resolution they choose could have financial or legal repercussions despite having the power. People accept change is needed but do not want change to see their team disappear.

The increasing gulf in the Welsh rugby public’s judgment is one of the biggest problems facing the WRU.

While people reflect on what they believe to be a string of past errors made by the governing body, which has caused the upheaval in Welsh rugby, the WRU is trying to instigate radical change.

A glance at comments to any public messaging the WRU puts out on social media demonstrates the disdain and distrust that currently exists for the Welsh game’s powerbrokers. When these emotions persist, it’s difficult to bring them along on a journey.

The WRU also struggles with changing its minds about important issues like the number of men’s professional sides.

Before Cardiff went into administration, it was adamant four equally funded sides would remain.

The WRU changed its tune and said the original assessment of four-percent funding was impossible after Ospreys and Scarlets objected to a new Professional Rugby Agreement (PRA).

The WRU then suggested a two-team strategy as its preferred option before a public opinion led to the most recent negotiations, which led to the creation of three.

Reddin also wants more control over playing affairs at the remaining three sides which is also a major sticking point.

Welsh fans hope Louis Rees-Zammit’s return from American football will add some X-factor while Tandy and Wales’ women’s head coach Sean Lynn will hope to establish their philosophies and avoid finishing bottom of the Six Nations pile.

There will not be many reasons to be optimistic until the latest Welsh rugby restructure is resolved one way or another.

Welsh rugby needs to address the animosity that is currently present in the environment.

The on-the-field mediocrity and off-the-field controversy are starting to win people over.

Christmas attendances might be encouraging but the floating feet need to be engaged permanently.

What was worse for Welsh rugby, questioned former Wales captain Ken Owens. Being viewed as a laughing stock, or being seen as a parody of this once-proud rugby nation by outsiders?

The attendances at the three home Six Nations matches against France, Scotland and Italy will be an acid test about whether the public remains interested in the Welsh rugby circus with more than 50% of WRU revenue coming from staging international games.