LONG READ Are green shoots emerging after annus horribilis? Wales' turbulent year reviewed

Goldbach’s Conjecture is a fiendish mathematical problem people have been debating for close on 300 years. It is wrong to say Welsh rugby has been arguing over its ideal number of premier teams for the same length of time. It just seems that way.

The smart money may even be on the number theory conundrum being cracked before calm descends on the oval-ball sport west of the River Severn.

This week’s announcement the Welsh Rugby Union are considering reducing the number of regions in Wales from four to three or even two by the start of the 2027-28 season guarantees a summer of discontent for the game in Wales, spilling over into what could be a cruel autumn for affected parties, with a consultation period planned before a new strategy is put before the WRU board for approval in October.

Some doubt if peace and goodwill will break out even then.

And there are major concerns that compressing the number of professional teams could drain interest in the sport in Wales at a time when the need for support has never been greater.

The months ahead always looked likely to be eventful for Welsh rugby. But what of the season that has just unfolded?  Understatement alert: a barrel of laughs it has not been.

But, still, it’s over and it’s time for a review.

Player of the season: Jac Morgan

Honourable mention: Marnus van der Merwe

“What Jac does brilliantly is lead by example,” Morgan’s Wales and Ospreys team-mate Gareth Thomas is on record as saying. “He puts a tackle in and it makes me want to put a dominant tackle in. A lot of the boys feed off his example on the pitch. In that way, he’s been brilliant.” Much the same used to be said of Alun Wyn Jones, how his very presence on the field lifted team-mates.

Even the dogs on the street understand the importance of Morgan on a rugby field, with his performances earning him selection for the British and Irish Lions. On a good day – and there have been plenty of those over the past year – he is a player apart, one who grafts tirelessly and contributes in all areas, unfailingly playing for the team rather than for individual glory.

Scarlets hooker Marcus van der Merwe has also been to the fore, turning over opposition ball for fun, finding his lineout targets with unerring accuracy and loading every performance with immense physicality, while Blair Murray has turned heads with his elusive running game.

Newcomer of the campaign: Blair Murray

No-one thought to put on a flypast when Murray arrived at the Scarlets from New Zealand provincial side Canterbury last summer. ‘Blair who?’ one or two in the westernmost corner of the region might have pondered. But what a signing he has been, doing for the Scarlets what Johnny McNicholl did with such style and swagger before him. Such has been Murray’s impact, there were calls for him to be included on the Lions tour. Quick and with an ability to weave past defenders, he stood out behind the scrum for Wales during a bleak campaign and showed up consistently well for his region.

Young player of the season: Morgan Morse

Honourable mentions: Macs Page, Huw Anderson

“I think it’s his time. If you look at Taulupe Faletau’s age, we really need to search for the next No. 8 incumbent. I’m not writing Taulupe off at all but if we fast forward to 2027 and what we need at that World Cup to peak, someone like Morgan Morse we should be given 15 to 20 caps before then.” So said ex-Wales centre Jamie Roberts towards the end of the regular season.

Even so, Morse didn’t make Wales’ summer tour squad, with Matt Sherratt seeing him as a specialist eight and opting for the experience of Faletau and Aaron Wainwright for the two-match tour.

But Morse’s time will come.

Compact and powerful, with the ability to come up with game-changing moments, the 20-year-old has had a fine season and is a player with the potential to win many caps for Wales.

Uncapped stalwarts

1) Harri Deaves, a players’ player who never gives less than 100%; 2) Alun Lawrence, might have been a different result at The Alamo had Cardiff’s tackling machine been manning the barricades; 3) Aneurin Owen, consistently to the fore for the Dragons; 4) Morgan Morris, always turns up; 5) Dan Davis, athletic flanker who never lets the Scarlets down.

Results that startled

Wales 14-68 England.  A rout wrapped in a mauling inside a hammering, a day Welsh rugby will never forget.   

Merthyr 104-0 Neath. “Cricket, was it? When do we bat?” said one individual online. For the Welsh All Blacks, it never used to be like this.

Annus horribilis

1) Wales men (one win from 10); 2) Wales women (two wins from 10); 3) WRU (too many woes to list); 4) Dragons (two wins from 22).

Moments to savour

1. Zebre players could have been forgiven for thinking a small red Vespa had been allowed onto the field when Macs Page received the ball at full speed near the halfway line for the Scarlets in Llanelli.  Leaving two would-be defenders clutching handfuls of thin air, the youngster twitched his hips before touching the accelerator again to glide past the final line of defence. It was a score Shane Williams in his pomp would have signed off.
2. Harri Millard won the top-try scorer accolade at the URC’s awards night, with the 28-year-old having a fine campaign for Cardiff. The pick of his nine scores came against Munster, a sweeping affair that started deep in Cardiff’s territory when Ben Thomas kicked long and Faletau surged forward, ball in one hand, before finding the supporting Millard, who had the pace to cross.
3. A converted try looked to have killed Ospreys’ hopes of beating Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun. All the hosts needed to do was claim the restart and put the ball off the park, but they hadn’t reckoned for Justin Tipuric, with the Wales international pouncing like a wolf over a lamb chop for a turnover that allowed Jack Walsh to bang over a match-winning penalty. The piece of Tipuric skill had defiance, technique and determination written all over it.

Car park of the year

That would be the one at the WRU’s National Centre of Excellence, spacious and with easy access, ideal for all the coaches Wales have used over the past season. (Warren Gatland, Rob Howley, Alex King, Mike Forshaw, Jonathan Humphreys and Neil Jenkins, for the avoidance of doubt, plus the interim set-up of Sherratt, Danny Wilson, Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones, Rhys Thomas and Leigh Halfpenny.)

Thanks for the on-pitch memories

Justin Tipuric, Dan Lydiate, Rey Lee-Lo.

Rest in peace

Geoff Wheel, Mark Jones, Steve Bale, Ken Rowlands, Kevin Bowring.

The big questions

What’s the right number of professional sides for Wales?

How should those teams be funded?

Who should be the next Wales head coach?

Quotes of the season in Wales

“Sometimes you ask the question: are players today as resilient as they might have been? Not just me but all coaches are conscious of the way we speak to the players and the language we use in terms of not knocking their confidence.”  Gatland on how he has had to adapt his approach in the modern era.

“It’s the worst Wales have been in the professional era.”  Roberts cuts to the chase after defeat by Fiji in Cardiff.

“We have a talented young squad that is developing and have been desperate to turn potential into results but now is the right time for a change.”  Gatland leaves as Wales head coach midway through the Six Nations.

“It’s a golden generation of Welsh pundits, not Welsh players.” BBC’s Chris Jones.

“Without lacking humility, I would prefer Ireland, England or France.” Ronan O’Gara rules himself out of the running for the Wales coaching job.

“One of the examples I use was the money we spent on flowers, which was extraordinary. It was £50,000 [a year]. That’s not making the national team perform any better. It’s not growing participation at a community level.” Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Abi Tierney tells of a costly past penchant at the union for a high fragrance factor in hospitality boxes at the Principality Stadium.

“We are absolutely committed to four regions equally, giving them all the chance to be successful. That will grow the game. We are increasing the funding as well as improving the pathways to have enough quality players to service them and working on the commercial side. That strategy will be quicker, faster and have an impact sooner than moving to three.”  Tierney, March 20, 2025.

“The Welsh Rugby Union have assumed control of Cardiff Rugby after the club’s legal entity – Cardiff Rugby Limited – was placed temporarily into administration.” A statement on Cardiff Rugby’s website, April 9, 2025.

“Given the seismic changes in the rugby landscape since we first started negotiating PRA25, the system will not return to the model of four evenly funded clubs.” WRU statement, May 2025.

“I was too slow. I stood too deep. I was petulant, aggressive and one?dimensional. I kicked too much and ran too little … where Barry John would paint you a picture, I’d draw you a diagram. Pragmatism over romanticism, that was me.” Dan Biggar in self-deprecating mode. Wales have missed him, though.

“Alright, butt, I hope you’re well. I hope things are all right. Are you interested in a charity boxing match?”  Joe Marler reports contact from his old front-row sparring partner Samson Lee, inviting him to step into the ring as part of Lee’s testimonial campaign. Marler was banned in 2016 after an England v Wales match for calling Lee, who comes from a family of travellers, ‘gypsy boy’.  The Englishman opted to put the matter on the “back burner for now”.

“The best coach I’ve been under is Shaun Edwards. Hands down. He got the best out of me.” George North hails Wales’ former defence chief.

“This is international rugby. It’s a brutal and physical sport and power wins, and England completely obliterated Wales.” Sam Warburton reacts to Wales’s 68-14 defeat by England.

“We [Cardiff] trained against the Ospreys this season. It wasn’t a live game, we were just practising scenarios against each other. I didn’t know Dan, so I said: ‘Can you kick-off long and right for us?’ He said: ‘No, we’re kicking off down the middle this week’. So I said: ‘But we’re receiving long and right, so just kick long and right’. Then he kicked down the middle! Afterwards, I laughed with Mark Jones because that’s exactly what a 10 would do.” Sherratt tells of a getting-to-know-you exchange with new Wales fly-half Dan Edwards.

“This has to be the start of something.” Sherratt after Wales end a 644-day search for a win by beating Japan.