Community plan for rugby clubs

Roger Lewis with his sons at their home Cefn Cribwr club

Welsh rugby clubs could soon offer facilities for coffee mornings and pensioners in their communities.

The Welsh Rugby Union is working on a £1m package to encourage clubs to develop facilities for all ages.

Chief Executive Roger Lewis told BBC Wales Dragon's Eye programme he wants to forge partnerships with politicians to turn clubs into community hubs.

Discussions are already underway with the assembly government and local councils he said.

"The clubs are the hubs of the community, and rugby is one of the bits of glue which keeps the community together," said Mr Lewis.

"But the clubs can be so many other things as well. We've been talking to the Welsh Assembly Government to see what else the clubs can do.

"Can they do coffee mornings for young mums, a place for old folk to drop in? Can they be an IT centre," he said.

Visiting his hometown rugby club of Cefn Cribwr, along with the Welsh coach, Warren Gatland, Mr Lewis said there were similar communities all over Wales that could benefit from using improved rugby club facilities.

Grassroots

Mr Lewis has been chief executive for two years and he admitted his focus initially was on Wales' national rugby team in the millennium stadium.

"We are now in pretty good shape with a great management team and a great team of players under Warren Gatland, so now I can start focusing on grassroots rugby," he explained.

Mr Lewis also visited his old primary school to emphasise the importance of grabbing children's interest in rugby at an early age.

The WRU is planning a £1 million package to help clubs to promote grassroots rugby facilities over the next year.

A quarter of a million pounds from the Sports Foundation will be offered to clubs willing to provide pound-for-pound match funding for any scheme.

The WRU says it will provide an additional half a million pounds to clubs in loans to boost facilities.

"We want to give this cash to clubs who really want to develop facilities," he said.

"We want to see places like my home club, Cefn Cribwr, grow and flourish and there are similar places across Wales."

Dragon's Eye is on BBC2 Wales at 2100 BST and BBC1 Wales at 2235 BST on Thursday 23 October