Welsh rugby: New season but can struggling game survive

To overcome these issues, Welsh rugby bosses are going to come up with an overall strategy everybody will adhere to and help lift the game out of the doldrums.

That is the theory.

WRU chief executive Abi Tierney started her new role in January and has kept a low public profile this year.

Tierney has undergone a significant cost-cutting exercise at the organisation and is trying to deal with the situation previous regimes have left.

Domestic chief executives have stated publicly they have been impressed by the new WRU executive after previous battles.

The proof will be in Tierney’s actions rather than words. The acid test will lie with the new strategy she had initially hoped to deliver the new report by the end of June.

Instead, a five-point plan was unveiled with the aim to make the national teams consistently ranked in the world’s top five, club teams challenge in the play-offs of URC and Celtic Challenge, retaining and grow the number of active participants, financial sustainability at all levels and increase positivity of the game among the Welsh public.

The full document has been delayed and is now expected in late October when meat needs to be added to the bone.

Answers on whether Wales can maintain four professional sides and what competition they will be involved in will be under scrutiny.

This is the document that should finally provide Welsh rugby with a clear vision. The minimum it needs is to offer some form of radical change.

Whether that happens remains to be seen but Tierney’s legacy will be judged on what is produced.

And Welsh rugby’s future could depend on it.