It’s Throwback Thursday!

Thomas Rhymer was a 13th century Scottish laird who, after supposedly being carried off by elves, returned with the gift of prophecy. As far as I’m aware, there’s no genetic link, but in 2004, Thomas Gerald Reames Davies, a total gentleman, possibly the greatest rugby player that I’ve had the pleasure to watch live, and current chair of the Pro12, wrote a rather prescient article for The Times entitled ‘Merging on the ridiculous — Cardiff must tackle identity crisis’.

The article was written only a few months into the establishment of regional rugby and at the point that a merger between Cardiff Blues and the Celtic Warriors was on the cards. It perhaps has a certain resonance today, and especially at a time when the WRU is seemingly taking on full ownership of the Newport Gwent Dragons and speculation on an East Wales region is out there on social media.

Davies commenced his article by referring to the Centenary History of Cardiff: ‘On the shelf lies The Greatest, the title that the chronicler of the history of the Cardiff RFC from 1876-1975, D. E. (Danny) Davies, gave to his book. Unabashed by the superlative, which others in the provinces might consider an indulgent hyperbole and arrogance, Davies, assistant manager to the British Isles in 1955 and president of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) in 1961, marshalled the facts, the statistics and the names of famous men to provide the acclaim for his cherished club.

He made a persuasive case, even if there were those who might have preferred a more modest title. Anyway, there the name stands to stretch beyond the narrow Wales boundary and to catch the imagination in other corners of the world. The name of Cardiff RFC travels into the earth’s rugby crannies in a way that others fail to reach. So it is.

Yet this week, the name has been threatened with extinction by the possibility of joining in a new conglomerate identity. Peter Thomas, the chairman of the Cardiff Blues board of directors, announced that his club should join Celtic Warriors to form an enlarged region. The Warriors themselves are a merger of two clubs, Bridgend and Pontypridd. Thomas declared that such a formation of a super region would be in the best interests of rugby in Wales.

This admission stunned the Welsh public, especially as Cardiff had made such a strong case to retain its individual identity as a club when the WRU had declared last season that the upper echelon of Welsh rugby would be run on five regions. There is a case that Wales’s capital city should sustain a prominent team, with the big population on its doorstep and a large number of other clubs that would complement, sustain and add distinction to a regional identity. If Cardiff cannot maintain a team for the country’s national sport, rugby in Wales has come to a pretty pass. That it is failing to do so suggests an uncertain sense of direction among the board’s management.

 Four months into a revolutionary change is no time to undermine the new regional project. Indeed, it raises a question as to what extent the Cardiff proposal has been properly thought through. To what extent can the board of directors act so unilaterally? To implement such a merger is fraught with internal problems. The board has a responsibility for running Cardiff Blues and the team that plays in the Premiership, but the assets at the Cardiff Arms Park belong to the Cardiff Athletic Club.’

Davies went on to make comments about the position of Cardiff Arms Park which could have been written yesterday, given the on-going saga about the ground redevelopment:

‘The stadium is on a lease agreement with Cardiff Blues. Other facilities — the hospitality suites, the clubhouse, the car parks — also belong to the athletic club and bring a substantial income to the athletic club that helps to go a considerable way towards financing professional rugby. It is doubtful whether any of the other regions can boast such an income from their assets.

It is unlikely that Cardiff Athletic Club would relinquish their authority nor allow their belief in their tradition, their own sense of themselves and what rugby means to them to be cast to the wind. There is also the growing conviction among supporters and shareholders that the governance of the game within the club may have to be reconsidered. There is a battle to be fought for the heart and soul of Cardiff rugby, one that will be not based on sentiment other than the desire to restore the club’s former prestige. There are consequences for Welsh rugby as a whole.’

He then concluded with some comments that arguably predicted the heated debates on the right structure for Welsh professional rugby and then ended with a warning.

‘To say that with a merged team, Welsh representation in Europe would be stronger is only part of the equation to restore the pride of Welsh rugby. If this were the only case to be made —winning the Heineken Cup was the be-all and the end-all — then who is to say next year the suggestion might be made to cull the teams still further, delivering the logic, reduction ad absurdum, that perhaps Wales would be better served with only one team, believing this to be a way of guaranteeing the winning of the elusive cup.

Furthermore, if Cardiff were to disappear, then Welsh representation in Europe would consequently diminish. There are those who suggest that Wales can only sustain four teams. Financially this may be the case, but there is no evidence to support the claim in terms of the rugby talent available in Wales. This has yet to proved.

That Cardiff should want to opt out in the present circumstances is no proof of this. Once they are out, there is no way back, however great they might once have thought themselves to be. It is time to restore the prestige rather than turn away.’

Protecting the past, embracing the future-TGR knew that it made sense fourteen years ago!