Posted by Even for the never-ending cataclysm that is Welsh rugby, there’s a particularly discernible amount of chaos and uncertainty about the future of the professional game in the country at the moment.
The Welsh Rugby Union insist they are ploughing on with plans to cut the number of teams from four to three, an Extraordinary General Meeting has been called with a vote of no confidence in the Chair as a motion, Swansea Council have launched legal action against the Union, and they also remain in a separate arbitration with the Scarlets over their non-signing of PRA25.
If you asked 10 people what they thought the end point of all this upheaval would be I’d suggest that you would receive 10 different answers, some wildly different from others. In truth, nobody knows exactly what the state of play will be in even three months’ time, let alone by the time the start of the 2027/28 season rolls around.
A knock-on effect of the above list, in particular the challenge launched by Swansea Council that the WRU’s actions breach UK Competition Law, is that the sale of Cardiff Rugby to the current Ospreys owner Y11 Sport & Media Limited has been delayed until at least the end of March – although a fair bet would be that it may drag on until well into spring.
Now that isn’t a disagreeable consequence by any means, and nor is this a ‘woe is me’ piece – I am well aware that the Blue & Blacks remain in a uniquely protected situation – but as this is a Cardiff Rugby blog written by a Cardiff Rugby supporter then there is something of a Cardiff Rugby focus on things!
Essentially the capital club exists in a kind of limbo. The WRU remain the owner but clearly have no desire to be so even into the medium-term, there is no proper governance structure as such with an Independent Chair, an Interim Managing Director and a few Union bods seemingly running things, and on the rugby front there is still an Interim Head Coach with no decisions made on what happens beyond the summer.
With that uncertainty lingering in the background it was no surprise to read last week that Corniel Van Zyl has begun to be linked with other jobs away from the Arms Park. The first of those was the Benetton Head Coach role which will become vacant at the end of the season when Calum MacRae departs, a club close to the South African’s heart after many years there as first a player and then a coach.
At a press conference ahead of the Leinster game Van Zyl clarified an element of the reporting around him having an interview with the Italian side, confirming that while he hadn’t had a formal interview there had been “conversations with people at the club”. This will no doubt also alert others to his potential availability, whether as a Head Coach or Forwards Coach.
Perhaps the most telling quotes from the press conference came around Van Zyl’s desire to stay at Cardiff though. “It’s not my decision to stay on in the future and ultimately you need to look after yourself and your family. I love Cardiff, I don’t want to move anywhere else at this moment in time so we will see what happens. Hopefully I will have more clarity soon.” Carefully chosen words, but clear in their intention.
Despite all the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Blue & Blacks’ ownership and the future direction of professional rugby in Wales, the current leadership of the club have to at some point decide to get on with making decisions which will impact the next few years at the club, and that time has come in my opinion.
The first move is to make Corniel Van Zyl the permanent Head Coach for the next two seasons.
Stepping up to the top job in the less than ideal circumstance of Matt Sherratt departing on the eve of the campaign getting underway – despite the good spot he left the rugby department in – the South African has led Cardiff to 10 wins in 16 games across the United Rugby Championship and European Challenge Cup, leaving us sat third in the league and with a cup knockout game on the horizon.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing, there have been a few games where the performance has not been up to scratch and others where some of the substitutions have been a bit questionable, but for a man in his first gig as a Head Coach, and without much pre-warning that he would end up in that spot, there has been far more good than bad and obvious development in his leadership over a short time.
Giving him a two-year deal affords a bit of protection for any new owner coming in that the club aren’t tied to the Head Coach for the entirety of the foreseeable future, but it crucially gives Van Zyl some certainty on his future and prevents Cardiff having to go through another overhaul where we’d essentially be looking for a new Head Coach, Forwards Coach and Attack Coach.
This would then lead on to the second move of allowing CVZ to sure up his coaching staff. Gethin Jenkins is doing an excellent job on defence, but there may be a desire to bring someone else in to assist on the forwards/set piece alongside Van Zyl and Scott Andrews, while there needs to be more of a permanent solution around attack where Jonny Goodridge has stepped up from Skills Coach and Dan Fish is doing some bits alongside other roles as Academy Coach and Rags Head Coach.
Finally, squad planning could properly get underway where Darren Allinson knows the Head Coach he is working alongside and recruiting for over the next cycle of contracts, as do players both at the club and prospectively signing from elsewhere.
Despite everything that has gone on off-field, Cardiff have steadily made excellent progress since that summer of 2023 when the great reset began. The coaches have developed year-on-year, and with them has grown a squad packed with quality homegrown players who are now making the next step of becoming test level players for Cymru.
To let all that potential slip away because some blazers in a boardroom somewhere can’t properly create, communicate and action a plan for the future of Welsh rugby – and alongside that Cardiff Rugby – would be a huge shame for the players, coaches, staff and supporters at the Arms Park.
Let’s control what we can control in the moment and keep trying to push the Blue & Blacks forwards.
Cardiff Rugby Life 