WRU women's chief calls funding blame for men's cut 'embarrassing'

Wales' women's rugby chief says it is "embarrassing" to suggest that spending on the women's game is behind plans to cut one of the country's four men's professional sides.

Nadine Griffiths, the Welsh Rugby Union's director of women's rugby, said the women's programme does not take money from the men's game. She told BBC Sport that the WRU runs five different budget lines, covering areas including the men, the women, Principality Stadium and the community game.

Those professional sides — the regional clubs that sit below the national team in the men's pathway — are facing an uncertain future. The WRU plans to reduce the men's professional structure from four teams to three. Griffiths said linking that decision to the women's budget is wrong.

That funding structure is central to her argument. Money is not simply moved from one pot to another. Griffiths said the women's game generated £1.7m last year.

She has been in post since June and sits on the WRU's executive team. The union has run a professional women's programme since the start of 2022, meaning players are paid to train and play full-time. It now has more than 40 contracted players.

The defence comes during a tough run on the pitch. Wales' senior women — playing Test matches, the term for full internationals — have gone nine games without a win. They have dropped to 13th in the world rankings, an all-time low.

New head coach Sean Lynn is now rebuilding. He has named eight uncapped players in his squad for WXV. Uncapped means yet to make a senior international appearance. WXV is rugby's annual global tournament played outside World Cup years, designed to give teams regular competitive Tests.

Wales open that campaign against South Africa at Cardiff Arms Park. It is a home start, and a chance to stop the losing sequence.

Off the field, the WRU is also pushing for stronger week-to-week rugby. It has lodged a formal expression of interest in joining Premiership Women's Rugby, England's top club league, according to a Welsh Rugby Union statement.

For supporters, this brings two pressures together. The men's regional future is unresolved. The women's national team is trying to climb back up the ladder.

Griffiths' message was blunt. Backing the women's game is not the reason for cuts elsewhere.