The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has rejected claims circulating on social media that its women's programme is responsible for a planned cut to one of the four men's professional regions, likely Scarlets or Ospreys. Women's rugby director Nadine Griffiths said she was "embarrassed" by the suggestion, stressing that men's, women's, stadium and community rugby all sit under separate budget lines and that the women's game has actually generated income for the union. The row matters because it touches on wider sensitivities around funding and cost-cutting in Welsh rugby as a men's region faces the axe.

Griffiths said the women's programme, professional since 2022 and now supporting more than 40 contracted players, brought in £1.7m last year and has greater commercial growth potential than the men's game, which she said is nearing ticket and attendance ceilings. She acknowledged the senior women's team's poor form – nine Tests without a win and a world ranking of 13th – but pointed to promising results at under-18 and under-21 level, plus eight uncapped players named in the WXV squad, as evidence the pathway is working. Wales begin their WXV campaign against South Africa on Friday at Cardiff Arms Park, before facing the USA and then travelling to Japan in October.