More teams get chance to play at stadium

MORE teams than ever before will be able to achieve their dream of playing at the Principality Stadium following a revision of the WRU National Cup competitions.

Following on from the highly successful ‘Road to Principality’ event last season, where there were standalone finals for the Premiership and Championship clubs as well as the normal Plate, Bowl and Shield competitions, the WRU’S competitions committee has revamped the structure to create seven finals instead of five.

“We undertook a thorough review of our competitions at the end of last season and were greatly encouraged by the reaction of the clubs to the new cup format. We therefore decided to expand the offering to give more teams the chance of reaching a showpiece final,” said WRU competition committee chairman Colin Wilks.

“The timing of the group stages and the ‘cross league’ nature of the five divisional tournaments brings extra spice and will mean teams play against other clubs of similar standing. That should enhance the quality of the rugby and make the competitions more even and more exciting.”

The 12 clubs in the Indigo Group Premiership will be split into four pools, with the pool winners then qualifying for the semi-finals. They will once again play for the WRU Challenge Cup.

Last season Newport beat Aberavon in a thrilling Indigo Group Premiership Cup final at the Principality Stadium, while Neath crowned their 150th anniversary campaign with a win over Bargoed in the Championship final.

For the 2022-23 season, the Championship Cup will be run on a knockout basis. The six winners of the opening round games will then go into the hat with Neath and Ystrad Rhondda, who have byes, to create four quarterfinal matches.

Last season’s winners of the Plate (Penallta), Bowl (Llanharan) and Shield (Tonna) will all be included in the new structure for the National League teams. They will compete in five different cup competitions which will bring together all the clubs in each tier of the structure.

Initially, the clubs will compete in groups before going into a knockout phase to determine who goes to the Welsh capital at the end of the season. Only the group winners will make it through to the knockout phase.

All groups will kick off on September 17, with the Championship Cup launching on October 15. The finals will be played at on dates to be agreed in April 2023.