When Mike James, for a few minutes longer the chairman of the Ospreys, sat down at lunchtime on Tuesday to talk to his Welsh Rugby Union counterpart, Gareth Davies, his mind could have drifted back 20 years, to when the two were allies against the governing body in one of the many bitter battles waged in the country in the professional era.
James was then bankrolling Swansea while Davies was the chief executive of Cardiff, two clubs who that season rebelled against the WRU by arranging friendly matches against England’s leading clubs rather than take part in competitions organised by their governing body. “We want to build a sustainable, vibrant business but the unions have different agendas,” said Davies then.
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