Sam Warburton: ‘Welsh rugby needs the Premiership but does it need us?’

Retired Wales skipper Sam Warburton has outlined his envy of the Gallagher Premiership on a weekend when the English league hosted a ground-breaking fixture at the Principality Stadium.

Bristol’s decision to take their Ashton Gate match with Bath across the Severn paid off handsomely as an attendance of 51,095 turned up to watch the Bears get the better of the English league leaders.

In sharp contrast to the popularity of this new initiative, the annual Judgement Day at the Principality featuring all four Welsh regions that compete in the United Rugby Championship attracted a much lower attendance of 28,328 last month.

The attractiveness of the English Premiership compared to the all-Welsh URC games wasn’t lost on Warburton, who admitted he would love to see some Welsh sides admitted to a future Anglo-Welsh League, a development that could greatly help the financially struggling regions.

Appearing as a pundit on TNT Sports, Warburton explained prior to the Bristol-Bath kick-off: “It’s lovely being a neutral (at the Principality) for a change, I can enjoy the rugby no matter what happens.

“Welsh rugby needs this…”

“When this game was announced a while ago I thought it was a really nice idea. Now it is justified, it seems there is going to be a minimum 50,000 here.

“I have been doing the Premiership all season. I can’t help but envy every ground I go to, whether it is Kingsholm, even AJ Bell, great stadiums. Exeter, you do down there, Bath is always rocking, Bristol.

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“I’m thinking personally Welsh rugby needs this, needs the Premiership, but the big question I guess, is whether the Premiership needs us. I don’t know but I do feel that the Welsh, I look across the Bridge and look at what product you have got (in England) and what gates you get in, the jeopardy you have in the competition, Welsh rugby needs this.”

Fellow pundit Chris Ashton, the retired England winger, interjected: “It’s a great advertisement this. It’s perfect. I like what you have done, just drag us all down here to show us what you have got.”

Warburton replied: “Maybe that is part of the process. Who knows.”

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