Welsh rugby is set to be thrown into chaos this weekend as an international clashes with a derby match.
On Friday night, the Fish Eagles will play a ‘home’ Union Rugby Championship (URC) match against South African side the Sharks in south-west London.
Less than 24 hours later, Wales will play a non-national match against the invited Barbarians in Cardiff.
The match is less than an hour before the Welsh league derby between the Scarlets and Cardiff in Llanelli, while Wales’ other professional team, the Dragons, will face defending URC champions Munster in Cork.
Critics of the international match have described it as a meaningless friendly that detracts from Wales’ domestic game.
The Welsh Rugby Union says a large proportion of turnover comes from gate receipts from international matches, which are vital to the financial future of Welsh rugby.
However, the derby between the Scarlets and Cardiff is also a lucrative, high-profile home game in the region.
The game will be played 45 minutes after the end of the Welsh side’s match against the Barbarians, meaning that many fans will not be able to watch both matches at the same time.
The WRU admitted the date clash was a mistake and said it would not happen again.
However, the damage has been done.
The Welsh domestic game is in a fragile state and this weekend’s events will only exacerbate that apathy.
The two professional rugby matches in Wales last weekend were watched by a total of just 8,500 people.
This is in stark contrast to the thousands of Welsh fans who traveled to France to watch their teams play during the World Cup.
Despite Gatland’s success in France, domestic problems remain and Alun Wynne-Jones admitted this week that he hoped the progress of the World Cup would not mask the cracks in Welsh rugby.
Welsh professional rugby needs some unity of thought. And it needs to be fast.