Trouble in Wales?

[bushytop]

I've read similar in the past, but i think that can be misleading. The players find their own way, often following the opportunities which open up to them, be that within their own region, somewhere else in Wales, or even scholarships to top English colleges/schools. I'm more interested in the population base from a support perspective. Are there enough potential supporters to get enough paying customers through the turnstiles?

Where's the next sizeable population base outside of Newport within the region? Cwmbran is not fsr, but otherwise there's only a few small villages. So the Dragons rely heavily on the population of Newport for support, and it's just not big enough to compete with the Irish Provinces, or English clubs.

Fair enough, the problem in regards to competing with the Irish Provinces and English clubs goes beyond attendances though... even if each region sold out every home game there would still be a huge discrepancy in match day revenue due to the ticket prices elsewhere. Tickets for the Welsh regions are under half those of the Irish teams (& they sell out more often than not).

There are a host of problems facing our regions (obviously) but as I've said, personally losing a region would be the absolute last resort. I'd far sooner 'try' running 3 out of South Wales and one in the North before culling the total from 4 to 3. If that fails then the option is still there.