Episode 4 The Scarlets

Wales - a rugby nation,

where every town and every village gets behind its local team.

Come on, Bethesda! Come on, Bethesda lads!

In Llanelli, top-class rugby has been played for 140 years.

And it inspires a whole region.

We've got boys out on this field that are amongst

the best in the world at what they do.

But these days, it's more than a game. It's a business.

And it's a business under threat.

What keeps me awake at night is paying the wages next month.

It's a battle to keep the big players here in Wales...

I'll say a W - by five.

..and ensure a precious rugby tradition survives.

Unless something changes, I think our regions will be gone.

This is the inside story of 12 months of triumph, tension,

-Get out.

-..turmoil...

-Everybody's at each other's throats..

-And pride in the Scarlet jersey.

-Yeah. A bit emotional, I guess, innit?

Stand by for a year with the Scarlets.

The Scarlets' head coach lifts the Heineken Cup.

To every coach, every player, every supporter, it's a bit of a Holy Grail, really.

Unfortunately, this is just the tournament press launch.

No Welsh region has ever won the European Cup.

In the year that we've been filming up close and personal

with Simon Easterby and his Scarlets stars,

the whole future of the tournament has been under threat.

French and English clubs have served notice that they're going to

pull out and that would be a massive blow for the Scarlets' players.

It is a great competition

and, you know, we want to be part of those big-game atmospheres.

The supporters, too, would miss the passion of French visitors...

# ..the Scarlets till I die... #

..and the cross-border rivalry with English clubs.

# ..the Scarlets till I die... #

It's just one of the issues fuelling a rugby civil war.

And it's not just the fans who want it sorted out quickly.

It's worried me and, you know, it's something that's stressed me out quite a bit.

I can't begin to understand how a group of adults manage to

sit in a room trying to be something very significant

and important for a whole day and just agree to have another meeting.

That's not like any business I've ever been part of.

So in Welsh rugby's long-running saga, will it be war - or peace?

As a line!

-Late summer 2013.

-Press-ups, lads.

-The new season dawns.

Jack-squats - the next one for us.

-And the Scarlets players need to shape up.

-Early morning not too bad.

Thought it would be about four o'clock, but six is not too bad.

There is a wake-up call, too, for the Scarlets board.

In terms of our season memberships, this has been a tough sell this year.

We are currently 528 memberships behind 12-13

and in terms of revenue, we're £66K behind where we were last year.

Sponsorship, we are about £130K to go to hit the budget.

In 2012, a report from consultants PWC was highly critical

of the way the regions have been run, but today's

losses are nothing like as great as they were

when the Scarlets were being kept afloat by wealthy backers.

Glan Wise joined the board believing that cheques

for a few thousand pounds would be enough to keep the business going.

When I went in, I thought, well, I'll put 20,000 in or something.

Then it went on and it was a million, then it was two million,

-now suddenly it's

-BLEEP

-four million, you know. But...

But, er, we laugh about it but it's something that hurts the bank balance, or the wife

finds out you've just thrown another million down on the Scarlets.

So we're just pumping in. It wasn't run right.

Let's be honest about it, people put their hands up.

But it's changed, right?

And now all of a sudden, it's changed again as far as I can see.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

For the players,

the day at this military boot camp at RAF St Athan has only just begun.

Superb efforts from everyone. Absolutely great efforts.

All worked your absolute socks off, fellows.

All we're going to do now is get a bit of phys, OK,

to wake you up before you go back and have breakfast.

Back in what they call the War Room at Parc y Scarlets,

the board welcomes a new recruit.

I'd like to formally propose that Robin's accepted onto the board.

And he's been brought in to help the Scarlets conquer the world.

So last year, Scarlets were shown in some 45 to 50 countries.

These are the games that we go to watch.

And some 7,000 broadcast hours around the world.

And you can ascribe a value to that using sort of marketing techniques.

And without actually doing any promotion or any extra work,

um, there's a 4 million price tag on that.

We're doing a great job of attracting good support

and good sponsorship locally

but what we've never done as the Scarlets is look global.

The imagery is massive.

And we look at it and think, cor, that's powerful.

But that's real, it's tangible, it's palpable

and if you add that to the history of the Scarlets,

Scarlets is an incredibly powerful brand.

Exploiting that brand means upping their marketing game.

The Scarlets have brought in a firm of specialists to advise them.

When we started the heritage projects...

Today they're hearing about plans for the Heritage Trail,

an interactive pathway at Parc y Scarlets which will display these treasures

and excite visitors with the whole history of rugby in Llanelli.

A lot of the smaller clubs actually sort of gave their best

-players to form the Llanelli teams, so that's why they were such a strong team from the beginning.

-Ah!

So on and off the pitch,

the Scarlets' brand of rugby is about to be put to the test.

For the players, there's an early season chance for revenge.

Treviso nearly scuppered the Scarlets' play-off hopes last year.

Wahay!

Hey, what a beautiful try!

Watching in hospitality is Peter Rees,

the oldest living Llanelli international.

He's called on Chief Executive Mark Davies to sort out a graphics problem for him.

That bit of the programme is the bit that everybody uses, which is

who's playing, and actually,

it was very artistic - it was white writing on a red background.

Well, he couldn't read it. I couldn't read it, either.

And he's 87!

-Very good, Mark bach! Good boy!

-Thank you, Peter.

After a heavy defeat by Leinster,

putting the Italians to the sword pleases the crowd.

But winning is not everyone's priority.

I don't know what the score is, actually.

They are dropping the ball all the time, scrum after scrum after scrum.

This time of year, there's so little damage that we can just target those areas.

In the winter now, when the weather gets worse and the scrums cause more damage,

that's when the comments really come.

I'd still rather grass, though. I love my grass.

It's much better to play on grass.

You don't want to play on plastic, do you?

And it put me out of a job, so I don't like it!

Centre Jonathan Davies is ready to return to action after

a storming summer with the Lions in Australia.

With less than 12 months to run on his Scarlets contract,

he's certain to be targeted by those rich French and English clubs.

He's hungry for more of the big-time.

The boys love playing in front of massive crowds.

I think...that's one of the things you play rugby, like.

Massive atmosphere, you know, a sense of theatre.

September 30th, with the launch of the European Cup,

the curtain is up again on the big stage.

Heineken weekends are the big weekends.

I think everyone looks forward to them.

The team gets to showcase their skills against the rest of Europe.

It's television money that drives the European game.

Players like Jonathan have to pay their dues.

-Have you not got a game against the Saracens?

-No. No, I don't think so.

Even if some of the marketing types aren't quite sure who is on board.

-Do you know who are in your group?

-Yeah.

-Cos I don't.

Scarlets v Racing Metro.

French teams with massive worldwide companies

and the London teams with massive companies there, you know.

The regions do have to work very hard to get as much

sponsorship as they can.

It's down to players as well to make sure that we get results

and get companies that want to be involved with the Scarlets.

Beautiful! And you're done. One take.

Obviously everybody loves the Heineken Cup.

It's had a fantastic history, particularly Scarlets.

Massive history.

Means so much to our supporters and players, so the thought

of losing that is really hard for a lot of people to understand.

Mesdames, messieurs. Bienvenue a Cardiff. Bore da. Croeso i Gaerdydd.

English clubs are unhappy with the qualification rules

and the share of the money they are getting, so Roger Lewis

is keen to signal that the Welsh Rugby Union is listening.

I passionately and honestly believe this is the next Heineken Cup final.

And there will be another one from a WRU perspective

where the four regions were united.

We believe in meritocracy through qualification, through the rabble.

We believe in a fair distribution of monies.

And that's why we believe that common sense will prevail

and this competition will continue.

As a player, I think I was fortunate enough to play in some really

good Scarlet teams and we progressed, er,

to all but a final in terms of getting to three semifinals,

two quarterfinals.

A lot of highs and a few lows along the way, unfortunately,

but that's the beauty of the competition.

For every coach, every player, every supporter over the last 15,

16 years, whatever it's been going for,

it's a bit of a Holy Grail, really.

But the Heineken Cup is only part of what is at stake now.

The agreement which binds the regions of the WRU is up for renewal.

It's what triggers the funding the Scarlets get from the union

and the Scarlets have to sign to extend it by the end of December.

Roger Lewis has been clear.

Same again, Josh.

If the Scarlets don't sign up,

they won't get to represent Wales in Europe.

And they wouldn't get funding and support from the WRU.

In effect, there would be no region.

As the crisis continues,

Antonia is getting regular briefings from Scarlet's Chief Executive Mark Davies

about the plan for next season.

I've had two conversations this week with sponsors

that would like to commit for 14-15,

but can't because they don't know what they are committing to.

We don't know what on earth we've got past the end of the season,

we don't know what games we are playing in Europe or not.

Can't forecast season-ticket revenue, can't forecast match day revenue,

and actually we can't be entirely sure whether it is the pro 12

or pro 10, so we can't forecast that one either.

With so little certainty, Mark feels unable to renew the WRU agreement.

Do you think they can see that we actually can't function as a business?

It is absolutely clear. How on earth could you sign something

when you don't know what your fixtures list is going to be?

You're hardly going to sign a contract that you don't know the conditions of.

Right.

# If looks could kill they probably will

# In games without frontiers... #

Mid-October. For the fans, Europe beckons maybe for the last time.

Let's beat them.

First up, a daunting trip to London.

Away wins in the Heineken Cup are rare.

But the Harlequins are in for a shock.

Game, set and match to the Scarlets.

By December, some of Welsh rugby's biggest names

are at the point of signing for French and English clubs.

The regions are due to meet the WRU. The media are calling it D-day.

Mark has a pre-meeting with the other regions

but he's not hopeful about the main talks.

I'm sure we will have a constructive meeting with the regions

first and foremost, which is what we're doing now.

That will be constructive.

Where we go in the meeting after that,

I don't have any expectation, because I've learnt over

a period of a couple of years now that that's a sensible place to be.

The regions are working on a Plan B, breaking away from the WRU

to join the English league, the Aviva Premiership.

Mark leaves the discussion with his regional colleagues

just as the WRU arrive.

Opting to join the English clubs would be lucrative

but it's a long shot.

I'm just off to do some actual constructive work, so...

The option probably wouldn't be sanctioned by the game's governing bodies.

It's difficult to say if we've really,

really got a true option at the moment...

but it's our responsibility to work at it and it is our responsibility to

try to investigate every single angle that is possible to us to survive.

We are literally at that point.

And not just to survive for today but to survive for five years' time

and ten years' time when the French

and English clubs will be stronger from their commercial platforms.

That's fact.

So it's no good us looking at just today,

we've got tomorrow's job to sort as well.

Negotiations go on into the evening,

par for the course for the Scarlets' chairman.

Oh, I don't mind. I've been in tough meetings most of my life.

I started in the steel industry in 1979, just after the big strike,

and that's a tough old business so, yeah.

But D-day ends without accord.

The deadline to sign the agreement is just days away.

The WRU's concern about the exodus of players to England

and France has now become critical.

Mid-December.

The Welsh regions want to join English clubs in a new

European competition with more money from a new broadcaster.

But Luke has other things on his mind.

It's quite sad, really. I'm 25, single, living on my own,

and in my phone there is just photos of grass.

With a big game in the offing, the sequence of snaps helps Luke

track how the pitch has stood up to wear and tear since the autumn.

Picture after picture of grass.

Bless.

Don't tell anybody.

It's just a photo of grass to most people but, to me,

it paints 1,000 words. HE CHUCKLES

From late October, early November, up until about February,

this side of the pitch isn't covered in shade.

So without sunlight the grass doesn't grow.

That's why I'm chasing everyone off the pitch all the time,

trying to move them over that side.

Looking at me stupid and thinking I'm just being really pedantic

and awkward but I'm not. There is a reason behind it.

That's because once it's damaged, once it's gone, it's gone.

# It's a knockout.

# If looks could kill they probably will

# In games without frontiers War without tears... #

The French have invaded Llanelli

and that throws up some security issues.

We've got everything ready.

Passes for everybody, tickets for everybody, food order for everybody,

correct pass in the right area, so security should be happy with me.

That's the deal we've got with Stewart from Head Of Security.

If I have a good game, he buys me a cupcake,

otherwise I'm going to buy the cupcakes.

So fingers crossed, no cupcakes.

The French invaders have already captured one of the Scarlets' big guns.

Clermont Auvergne have signed Jonathan Davies for next season.

It points up a huge disparity in funding.

Big difference when you compare a 30 million team to a 3 million team.

And it's the big spenders who take the spoils of battle.

For the Scarlets' European Cup hopes, it's a knockout.

But, in rugby, fans always seem happy to fraternise with the enemy.

With Christmas coming, the game's governing bodies have mounted

one more attempt to save their version of the European Cup.

That was Nigel, who's in another meeting trying to understand

what, if anything, happened in the union's meeting on Friday,

which, again, the simple answer is nothing

so the mediators flew in all the way from Canada, spend a whole day

and couldn't agree anything beyond having another meeting in January.

So once again we are all fiddling while Rome burns...

I can't actually begin to understand how a group of adults managed

to sit in a room trying to agree something very significant

and important for a whole day and just agreed to have another meeting.

That's not like any business I've ever been part of

but that's where we're at,

so we don't appear to be any further forward.

Still nothing defined, another month on and another month to go

apparently because there may be a meeting sometime in January.

Absolutely staggering. But there we are, another good Sunday.

Happy Christmas.

Nigel arrives back to brief the Supporters' Trust.

He's been meeting the English Aviva clubs.

Joining them could help the Scarlets bridge the gulf with the French Top 14.

One of the choices, potentially, is to join one of the leagues

which has at least got the potential to rival the Top 14 in terms of commercial value.

There is no secret that that could potentially be the Aviva.

Is that probable? I'd honestly have to answer today, maybe not.

Could it happen? Possibly.

The real game-changer in all this has been the French market.

The French TV deal for the Top 14

is likely to be well over 65 million euros next year.

I think they're on 30 at the moment.

That one league with those 14 clubs

is generating more than the entire turnover of the WRU.

Boxing Day. The Scarlets are playing regional rivals the Ospreys.

Few of the capacity crowd seem fazed by the prospect of turning

their backs on the agreement with the WRU to join

the English Aviva Premiership instead.

This is what regional rugby is all about

and this is what big games are about. And you have big games in the Aviva.

We want more days like this with good crowds

and I think the best place for that is in the Aviva.

There is a lot of politics going on and people have lost sight of the game.

It's despicable. They need to sort it out.

It's not fair on the regions, it's not fair on the fans who turn up every week.

Before kick-off, something Parc y Scarlets has never seen before.

It's just a protest before the game by the fans.

Joint protest by Osprey and Scarlet fans, showing that we want

to support the region's cause in the battle that's going on at present.

This is for all of us, guys.

What this means to you guys in here, to the people who work here

day in, day out, the people who come and watch you play here,

if you back down 1cm,

they've won that little battle.

-You don't

-BLEEP

-back down today.

We go after them every single time.

FANS SING

What this demonstrates is what it means

when you've got a fixture with a history and heritage behind it

and all of the emotion that that creates.

Go on, Scarlets!

Scarlets! Scarlets!

But will the regions be here to play the derby next Christmas?

Well, I'm not sure there's any guarantee at the moment.

But 14,000 people in here are hoping that this fixture

will take place next year, and we've got every intention,

us Ospreys and Scarlets, that this fixture will take place next year.

But we've got some way to go still to ensure that, as we stand today.

-COMMENTATOR:

-That's it, the clock is red!

The last play.

There's one score in it.

The Scarlets need a try.

The Ospreys just have to get the ball off the park.

-COMMENTATOR:

-The whole crowd trying to drive them home.

Everybody living on their nerves.

# All the stores were closed and shuttered

Defeat hurts.

# All the streets were dark and bare

And especially at home.

# In our town oh, scarlet ribbons

# Not one ribbon for her hair... #

For the Scarlets, little Christmas cheer.

And by New Year, they could be out in the cold.

December 31. Deadline day for signing the agreement.

The union insists it's the best way forward for Welsh rugby.

At the Cardiff Blues headquarters,

the region's executives have gathered.

I don't think it's the way anybody would choose to spend

New Year's Eve.

The individual regions have all had a formal board meeting.

38 of Wales's most successful businesspeople, lawyers,

former players...

..absolutely unanimously...

..confirming that we cannot, er, sign to extend the legal agreement

that commits us, at one side, to all of our costs.

But does not in any way shape or form define any of our incomes

or competitive platforms the other side.

It's just completely impossible.

And at the same time,

we will be confirming that we have got options available to us now that

allow us to plan positively forward

and not just negatively cut costs.

But the turning of the year is a time to look back

as well as forward.

The Parc y Scarlets Heritage Trail is close to opening.

Hopefully, once the trail opens, people will donate more and more

of these things, because they really are...

They're treasured pieces, really, in terms of the story of the club.

Exactly, I mean, even the bandages have got the plastic still on them

and everything.

So, really, really special piece of memorabilia here.

Amongst the items being dusted off for display is a pair of boots

once worn by a Llanelli hero.

Barry John. Amazing.

Another player from those far-off glory days is still

with the Scarlets.

Gareth Jenkins coached Wales too, but he's sceptical

about the WRU's plans to contract players centrally themselves.

You have to belong somewhere.

You have to have an identity.

And as far as I'm concerned, the Scarlets and Llanelli before it

has had a strong identity, with a brotherhood relationship,

to make sure that every player is recognised through his success

and why he's been successful.

And he's been successful because of the environment that he has

grown up in, he's belonged to, he's developed in.

The WRU is adamant that the loss of big names

is so damaging that they have to act now.

But it leaves the players uncertain about the whole question

of central contracts.

You're asking the wrong man. I'm not likely to be offered one.

You better speak to one of these couple here.

The issue is, nobody really knows what it means.

We'd just be like an asset, asked to go and play rugby

and I don't think... If you had people who weren't in love with where

they were, then you wouldn't have what we love about Welsh rugby.

Everyone down here, we are all,

first focus, Scarlets players and then if you are

fortunate to get selected for your country, that's great.

But to be associated to a club, that's really important, I think.

The longer it drags out,

it's obviously going to be very frustrating.

I think, you know, both parties are working very hard separately

but not actually coming together and working together.

I think that's the difficulty at the moment.

That's Ken's politics degree coming through there. Very diplomatic.

It's very difficult to make fully informed decisions

because there's so many things that we don't know, so many uncertainties

which I've found difficult.

It's worried me and it's something that has stressed me out

quite a bit and I wish it hadn't happened this year of all years

when I was out of contract,

but it's got to happen to somebody and I just hope that,

like Rob says, for the best interests of Welsh rugby

that it gets sorted.

And it's not just the players who are worried.

It is quite difficult with everything that's going on between the regions

and the WRU on the basis that, from January onwards,

we usually start thinking about renewals of business clubs,

sponsors, investors.

On a personal basis, you do think, "What's going to happen to my job?"

So you do have those concerns.

January 31, our year where the Scarlets closes,

the Heritage Trail opens,

on interactive tablets the whole history of Llanelli rugby.

What on earth made this little town in West Wales

such a cauldron of talent across world rugby?

It's another deadline day.

Time, say the regions, to conclude matters with the WRU or move ahead

with their options of breaking away.

We're still in the position, we can't run our business,

we can't launch our season tickets, we can't commit to sponsors,

I can't even order kit.

If nothing happens today, we're back to

having to find a resolution by ourselves, our own way.

The WRU is urging the Scarlets to strike deals with Scott Williams

and Rhys Priestland.

Otherwise, the union will offer them

central contracts, as they have already done with Sam Warburton.

Something will have to give very soon.

We've got to start listening to what people want.

You know, what do the public want? What do the players want?

What do the coaches want? What do sponsors want?

And they want week in, week out

competitive rugby with attractive features.

We can't sustain the game on six or seven international days a year,

fantastic as they are.

We've got to get the product right week in, week out.

# If I live to be 200

A precious past.

# I will never know

A precarious future.

As with so much we treasure in life, we don't yet know how it ends.

# Those lovely scarlet ribbons

# Scarlet ribbons for her hair... #