Welsh Exiles was established by the Welsh Rugby Union to keep alive the link between Welsh rugby and Welsh qualified teenagers who were playing their youth rugby elsewhere in the world. Focused predominantly on England, though with a global reach, Welsh Exiles has grown into being an essential pathway for the identification and development of Welsh rugby players. On the 23/05/2025 the Welsh Rugby Union announced the closure of Welsh Exiles and it was also announced that its influential organiser Gareth Davies would also be leaving the Union. 

Wales is the smallest of the tier 1 nations, and while there is a high take up of the game in Wales amongst children, the domestic pathways are often stretched to the limit in producing high quality rugby players. Welsh Exiles was designed to bridge that gap by allowing the many Welsh qualified children living abroad to have contact with Welsh coaches in a Welsh rugby focused environment with the aim of introducing the most talented to Welsh based academies and schools.

The programme has been very successful over the years, both at age grade and at full International level. Around 100 Exiles have gone on to represent Wales at Under 18 and Under 20 level, while the current Japan tour includes Archie Griffin, Freddie Thomas and Johnny Williams, all of whom attend Welsh Exiles camps. 

In order to participate in Welsh Exiles, children from the age of 13 attended two one day camps a year, normally at locations in England, to showcase their talents to an experienced team established and managed by Gareth. These camps were not free, in order to secure a place, parents had to pay £40 per child so helping to subsidise the cost of the camps. These camps were often attended by Llandovery and Monmouth Colleges as well as Cardiff Met in order to promote the opportunities they presented for the attendees, but also so that they could have contact with those with potential. From the age of 15, those players who showed potential would then be invited to an annual camp in Wales to take part in further training and development which usually ended with a match against a Welsh based side. In recent years Welsh Exiles have played against Christ College Brecon and against combined sides from the regions during these camps. 

The cost of running this was limited compared to the overall cost of running the Welsh Rugby Union, and as I have already mentioned, the parents often helped to subsidise the administrative costs of taking part. Meanwhile, a number of talented youngsters who would go on to have successful rugby careers were identified and introduced to Welsh rugby pathways that would usually have been closed to them. There is a significant risk that, with the closure of Welsh Exiles, a number of those who would have been drawn to Wales, will end up developing their rugby through the pathways of other unions with the subsequent loss of their playing talent to Wales. My concern is that one day, Wales will lose a test match to an England side that contains numerous players who would have once been eligible to play for Wales. 

This likely sounds extreme to most of you, but from my own personal experience. I live in Berkshire, where in every age group, in every rugby club, there are Welsh qualified players, often two or three per age group. They turn up to training in their Wales shirts, proudly showing off the three feathers that inspires them. When they are not wearing Wales shirts, they are wearing the shirts of their favourite region, or their favourite club. When you ask them who their heroes are, they don't say Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell, or Henry Pollock, they talk of Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Biggar and Jac Morgan. They proudly stand when they hear Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau and they understand what is meant by Calon, while even when they have never lived in Wales you can see that they have Hiraeth. 

Welsh Exiles allowed these kids to feel that they belong, it allowed them to hope that they could find a way back home, and it ensured that Wales and the joy of Welsh rugby was carried throughout the world. 

That is why we must prevent the closure of Welsh Exiles, we must prevent the removal of this pathway, because it is not just helping Welsh rugby, but it is helping people to be Welsh.