{"id":71563,"date":"2021-12-17T10:56:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T10:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/?p=71563"},"modified":"2022-03-09T22:19:57","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T22:19:57","slug":"tackling-the-slump-the-battle-wales-faces-to-keep-rugbys-head-above-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/sport-health\/tackling-the-slump-the-battle-wales-faces-to-keep-rugbys-head-above-water","title":{"rendered":"Tackling the slump: the battle Wales faces to keep rugby\u2019s head above water"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With rugby being a large part of Welsh culture and community, why are clubs struggling to recruit local, young men? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After a cold, muddy training session, at the foot of the valleys, the men of Taff\u2019s Well rugby team sit at the bar and socialise. It\u2019s a typical Thursday night at the club which has been around for 135 years.  As the men engage in frivolous banter, Andrew Chown, the director of rugby, studies the twenty years of statistics that indicate a sign of the times that Welsh rugby is facing; there are just not enough players anymore.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roger Watkins, the groundsman at Taff\u2019s Well said, \u201cWhen I played, you went out for a game of rugby and enjoyed it, had a good couple of pints with your mates.\u201d He believes that the game has changed. \u201cYou\u2019re striving to keep above that drop zone, and when you start dropping, it’s hard to get back.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite rugby being the national sport of Wales, the challenges faced by the grassroots game are difficult to gauge as participation figures are elusive. But statistics from England and Scotland suggest the bleak decline noticed by Welsh rugby clubs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"