Wales head coach Steve Tandy vows not to ignore 'elephant in the room' and discuss his country's ongoing rugby upheaval ahead of first campaign

Steve Tandy has admitted his Wales team ‘can’t avoid the elephant in the room’ that is the uncertainty surrounding the country’s national game this autumn. 

Tandy on Tuesday named his first squad as national coach after his summer appointment for November matches with Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. 

Wales have struggled badly in the last 18 months on the field, only ending a run of 18 straight Test defeats against Japan in July. 

Tandy’s already-difficult job is set to be made even harder by off-field issues. 

The Welsh Rugby Union is considering cutting the number of its professional club teams from four to two and is likely to announce whether it will do so or not by the end of the month. 

That is set to come in the build-up to Wales’ Argentina clash on November 9. It means Wales’ players could learn of potential job losses ahead of crucial matches. 

‘You’ve got to be really empathetic to that situation. We’ve all got families, partners and children,’ said Tandy. 

‘We can’t avoid it either. It’s something I’m encouraging from the senior players. We’ve got to talk about it. You can’t avoid the elephant in the room. 

‘With uncertainty, that’s the last thing you want to do.’ 

Director of rugby Dave Reddin is the WRU employee leading the governing body’s ongoing consultation period into the future of its club teams. 

There has been vehement criticism of the two-team proposal, which forms part of a wider scheme involving a significant rethink on facilities and academy structures, among other things. 

Daily Mail Sport has learned it is unlikely – but not impossible – the WRU board will ratify going to two teams based on such significant opposition. 

But what happens next is unclear. 

Sources have indicated that in recent days, there has been a growing school of thought that the status quo of four sides could be retained albeit with a split ‘2+2’ funding model.   

That would mean two teams receive increased central funding from the WRU while the two others would see their budgets reduced. 

The current uncertainty over their domestic contracts, as previously reported by Daily Mail Sport, has meant Wales’ players based at home have been targeted by rugby’s proposed new breakaway league R360. 

In 2023, that year’s Wales squad came close to striking for the Six Nations game with England over ongoing contractual and financial issues. 

Tandy, understandably, doesn’t want things to reach that point again. 

‘It’s something you have to talk about,’ he said. 

‘You never want that to happen, but ultimately the way you avoid things like that is having constant dialogue and the boys knowing they have channels to voice their opinions. 

‘If they feel it’s awkward, I’d rather know. It goes back to building those connections so they can pick up the phone and have that conversation. 

‘For me, it’s about being very open and having dialogue, no matter what it is. When you speak to players, they’re desperate to play for their country. 

‘Ultimately, it’s a slight distraction, but the more we move on through it and talk about it, the clearer we can be about producing performances.’