Welsh Government
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A new Centre of Excellence places Welsh rugby at the forefront of player development

A £2.5 million new Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) National Centre of Excellence, which provides training and back-up facilities already being hailed as unrivalled in world rugby, has been officially opened at the Vale Resort near Cardiff yesterday (Wednesday 28 October) by the First Minister, Rhodri Morgan.

From now on all international rugby players selected to represent Wales at any level will train at the same base with the best available pitches, training facilities, medical equipment, coaches and back-room personnel on hand to help them strive for excellence.

The facility is also home to the newly-formed WRU National Academy, which will select high-calibre players, coaches and match officials from the men’s and women’s game for specialist and personal training at the highest level.

The World Cup-winning Wales Rugby Sevens Champions squad is also based at the National Centre of Excellence as a core element of the Welsh international pathway structure.

The £2.5 million spent to secure the National Centre of Excellence as an exclusive base with state-of-the-art facilities completes an overall spend of close to £5m which includes capital and running costs at the base before today.

The Sports Council for Wales invested £1.5million in the project as Lottery funding and the WRU provided the further £1m required to complete the deal this year.

The First Minister unveiled two plaques at the NCE to officially open the facility.

The first was inside the administration and training building which now becomes the new headquarters of the NCE.

The second plaque was located on a commemorative stone alongside the outdoor artificial pitch and celebrates the Sports Council for Wales Lottery Fund grant into the facility.

First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, said:

“The development of this National Centre of Excellence has been a long-held aim for the Welsh Rugby Union. Today, the Union deserves congratulations for bringing it to fruition. The Sports Council has played a vital role in this project and I would like to praise their commitment and support.”

“This state-of-the-art facility will give our elite National Squads the best possible opportunity to gain an edge and win those games where an extra two or three percent is the difference between success and defeat.”

“The performances of Welsh international teams at all levels over the past few years show a clear upward trend and the excellent facilities that are now in place mean that Welsh rugby fans, like me, can look forward to more of the same, and hopefully even better performances and results, by our national teams in the future as the culture of excellence that is already in place in rugby in Wales, firmly spreads its roots, grows and bears fruit. We are the world rugby seven a-side champions.  We want to be winning championship pennants across the board in the world of rugby.  This centre could well give us the edge.  We were slow off the mark in embracing professionalism in rugby, but we haven’t just caught up, we have overtaken other countries.”

Heritage Minister, Alun Ffred Jones said:

“This is a world-class training facility for world-class rugby teams, and I would like to congratulate the Welsh Rugby Union and the Sports Council for Wales on their vision and commitment in delivering this project. Given the success that Welsh rugby has enjoyed over the past few years, not only the performances of the senior team in recent years, but some excellent performances and results by the age-grade teams, the senior women’s team and the World Champion sevens squad, this new Centre of Excellence will surely give further impetus to equalling and surpassing those performances in the future.”

Wales Head Coach Warren Gatland said:

“We have now created an inspirational working environment where the coaches and players can now focus on development and match preparation.

“One of our core values is that each player holds a responsibility to the Welsh jersey and if we ask them to give their all for that we have a duty to help them as much and as professionally as we can.

“By creating this fantastic facility we are treating all our players with the utmost respect and now we can ask them to deliver their best for Wales.

WRU Group Chief Executive, Roger Lewis, added:

"I am delighted that Wales now has an international training and development facility which will be the envy of the rugby playing world.

“It has taken a tremendous amount of hard work and commitment to achieve this and the end result is a National Centre of Excellence the whole of Wales can be proud of.

“This centre represents a statement to the rest of the world that we are truly committed to the priority of creating a winning Wales team which will be the driving force to sustain our national sport for generations to come.

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