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<blockquote data-quote="TRF_Cymro" data-source="post: 365333" data-attributes="member: 40909"><p>To be honest the reason why there has never really been a strong side from North Wales comes down to a couple of reasons. One of them is the fact you have sort of pointed out to. The 5 Welsh regions at the time were all based in the heartlands of Welsh rugby, the 4 left now still of course are. So the North has never really featured because of that. Another reason is for the fact of travelling and its difficulty. Look at the maps below.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/united-kingdom/wales/wales.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.treehugger.com/wales-map.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The map on the top shows the physical dilemmas between North and South Wales, and look at the map below for the road network. You can easily see that the only motorway links the old industrial heartlands of Wales and also conveniently the Welsh regions. The road that links North to South Wales can take some 6-9 hours to travel from, which realistically is not possible for a rugby game. But this has been the old age problem since rugby began in Wales. Transport and logistics has played a role. Possibly the largest role in this also bases that the Southern Clubs believe that the game in the South is superior to the North and if they played the South would dominate. Personally I believe this to be true, I have played against first team sides from North Wales top division and played against / seen some of the sides down South from the top division and really there is no comparison. This does not mean that there are no good players up North, far from it. Problem lies with the rugby elite down South and always has done. To shift the tide would be a tough one, something that won't happen quick. All the Welsh talent pool lies down in South Wales and this is where you will find the players who want to play international rugby, they all have to move down from North Wales to play down here, all the big clubs are here and also where the money lies. Also look at the hills. Not easy to get round.</p><p></p><p>This is where the 5 region or the RGC would have I feel a problem. I know that the Southern Clubs in secret do not want the RGC because they believe that the Celtic Warriors were not looked after by the WRU, not only that but also shows that the WRU has gone back on a promise that it would eventually look when it could at bringing a region back to the 'Welsh Valleys'. The Valley boys who are still anti-WRU still feel very bitter over the way the Celtic Warriors were treated. They still believe that the WRU could have done more, they could have done, but the problem lied with not ensuring the correct people were running the clubs and that the money was correctly spent. The Celtic Warriors were a powerful side, a lot of Welsh players were involved with this club, notably Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Mefin Davies, Ryan Jones, Robert Sidoli, Sonny Parker, Gareth Thomas, Kevin Morgan and Maama Molitika. All players they had, all international players. They would have dominated sides had they continued, Im pretty sure if they were in existence today, the likes of Prydie would be playing for the Ospreys as the talent would be spread out and the development of youngsters would be key. </p><p></p><p>So the question is, if I believe the Warriors stayed alive and could continue producing internationals and they could compete surely the RGC could do the same? Well thats where the dilemma lies. Its a gamble, a possible expensive one for the WRU, if the RGC fails then the financial implication will be severe again. Players will be out of the job and the money invested will have gone to waste. If they don't let them in, people will always moan that they have never been tested and that we will never know if the RGC would be good enough. The RGC is someway off being considered good enough to be entered into the Magners League. They got to get into the Welsh Prem first, and dominate that. Somehow I don't think they will, the likes of Neath, Swansea and Cardiff will have something to say about it. Then again, if they succeed over a number of years and the player pool is there, then give them a go, its some 5 years + down the line before this can happen. At the end of the day a 5th Welsh region could work, but I am very curious as to whether a 5th region could be from North Wales.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TRF_Cymro, post: 365333, member: 40909"] To be honest the reason why there has never really been a strong side from North Wales comes down to a couple of reasons. One of them is the fact you have sort of pointed out to. The 5 Welsh regions at the time were all based in the heartlands of Welsh rugby, the 4 left now still of course are. So the North has never really featured because of that. Another reason is for the fact of travelling and its difficulty. Look at the maps below. [IMG]http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/united-kingdom/wales/wales.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.treehugger.com/wales-map.jpg[/IMG] The map on the top shows the physical dilemmas between North and South Wales, and look at the map below for the road network. You can easily see that the only motorway links the old industrial heartlands of Wales and also conveniently the Welsh regions. The road that links North to South Wales can take some 6-9 hours to travel from, which realistically is not possible for a rugby game. But this has been the old age problem since rugby began in Wales. Transport and logistics has played a role. Possibly the largest role in this also bases that the Southern Clubs believe that the game in the South is superior to the North and if they played the South would dominate. Personally I believe this to be true, I have played against first team sides from North Wales top division and played against / seen some of the sides down South from the top division and really there is no comparison. This does not mean that there are no good players up North, far from it. Problem lies with the rugby elite down South and always has done. To shift the tide would be a tough one, something that won't happen quick. All the Welsh talent pool lies down in South Wales and this is where you will find the players who want to play international rugby, they all have to move down from North Wales to play down here, all the big clubs are here and also where the money lies. Also look at the hills. Not easy to get round. This is where the 5 region or the RGC would have I feel a problem. I know that the Southern Clubs in secret do not want the RGC because they believe that the Celtic Warriors were not looked after by the WRU, not only that but also shows that the WRU has gone back on a promise that it would eventually look when it could at bringing a region back to the 'Welsh Valleys'. The Valley boys who are still anti-WRU still feel very bitter over the way the Celtic Warriors were treated. They still believe that the WRU could have done more, they could have done, but the problem lied with not ensuring the correct people were running the clubs and that the money was correctly spent. The Celtic Warriors were a powerful side, a lot of Welsh players were involved with this club, notably Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Mefin Davies, Ryan Jones, Robert Sidoli, Sonny Parker, Gareth Thomas, Kevin Morgan and Maama Molitika. All players they had, all international players. They would have dominated sides had they continued, Im pretty sure if they were in existence today, the likes of Prydie would be playing for the Ospreys as the talent would be spread out and the development of youngsters would be key. So the question is, if I believe the Warriors stayed alive and could continue producing internationals and they could compete surely the RGC could do the same? Well thats where the dilemma lies. Its a gamble, a possible expensive one for the WRU, if the RGC fails then the financial implication will be severe again. Players will be out of the job and the money invested will have gone to waste. If they don't let them in, people will always moan that they have never been tested and that we will never know if the RGC would be good enough. The RGC is someway off being considered good enough to be entered into the Magners League. They got to get into the Welsh Prem first, and dominate that. Somehow I don't think they will, the likes of Neath, Swansea and Cardiff will have something to say about it. Then again, if they succeed over a number of years and the player pool is there, then give them a go, its some 5 years + down the line before this can happen. At the end of the day a 5th Welsh region could work, but I am very curious as to whether a 5th region could be from North Wales. [/QUOTE]
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