There’s one topic of conversation which never goes away in Welsh rugby - money.
That’s particularly the case in the professional game, where finances have been a major challenge ever since the amateur era was ushered out in the mid-1990s.
The funding of our four regions is a constant source of debate, with rival sides in France, Ireland and England operating on significantly bigger budgets.
So what exactly are the figures? How much do our pro teams receive from the WRU, how is that worked out and what are their playing budgets for next season?
And how does this compare with teams in other countries?
Rugby correspondent Simon Thomas has been digging away behind the scenes and crunching the numbers.
So where does the money go to in Welsh rugby?
Well, there’s been a significant change on that front over the last year or so.
The funding to the community game is now guaranteed and ring-fenced at £11.7m, which includes payments to the Premiership clubs.
Basically, whatever is left after that goes to the professional game.
So that amount will fluctuate depending on the money coming into Welsh rugby.
Last year, the WRU announced a record turnover of £97m, which was a 30 per cent increase in revenue from the previous year’s figure of £74.9m.
That was on the back of three home games in the Six Nations, four sell-out Ed Sheeran shows at the Principality Stadium and other big events like The Rolling Stones and an Anthony Joshua world title fight.
In contrast, the WRU is expected to post a loss of more than £5m this year.
That’s largely because there were only two Six Nations matches in Cardiff, while there will be no autumn internationals due to the World Cup.
For context, each Wales game at the stadium generates around £2m.
So, year on year, the money available to the professional game goes up and down.
The bumper figures for 2018 enabled the WRU to increase the direct funding to the regions to a total figure of around £20m.
That's essentially payment for services provided, including the release of players for all international duty and observing overseas player quotas.
By squirrelling money away from last year’s profit, they have managed to maintain that amount for next season.
So, largely speaking, it will be same again funding-wise for the regions.
How is that £20m divided up?
That’s down to the Professional Rugby Board, the new body which has been set up to run the pro game in Wales.
It’s a joint group which includes the four regional chairmen, plus representatives of the Union.
They decide how the pot of cash should be split up based on key criteria.
Those include performances on the pitch, players delivered to Wales, coaching, Academy, governance, commercial activity...a whole range of issues.
Taking those criteria into account, the PRB distribution to each region for next season will be roughly as follows:
Dragons £3.4m, Cardiff Blues £4.9m, Ospreys £5.3m, Scarlets £6m.
The Dragons figure was due to be £3.1m, but the PRB have agreed to allocate them an additional £300,000.
This was after chairman David Buttress argued they could find themselves dangerously thin on numbers up front if forwards Ross Moriarty, Cory Hill, Elliot Dee, Aaron Wainwright and Leon Brown were all selected for the World Cup in Japan.
You can read the full details on how this came about here.
Is that all the money the regions receive?
No it’s not.
In addition to the £20m of direct WRU funding, there’s a further £11.7m of TV and competition money which the regions generate themselves.
That is passed on to them by the Union and split four ways equally.
Then, of course, there are other streams of income.
The regions generate further cash themselves through sponsorship, such as shirt deals, other commercial activity, merchandise, corporate hospitality boxes and ticket sales.
And then there’s the amount put in by benefactors, which varies from region to region.
That delivers a total revenue figure per annum for the business.
A portion of that goes on operational costs, coaching and administrative staff and the academies.
Whatever is left then is available to be spent on the playing squad.
It’s important to remember that dual contracts - where the Union paid 60 per cent of a player’s wage and the region 40 per cent - have been phased out.
So, all salary costs are now down to the regions.
And, as it stands, the playing budgets for next season are around the following levels:
Dragons £4.8m, Cardiff Blues £5.9m, Ospreys £6.4m, Scarlets £7.7m.
How does this compare with teams in other countries?
It varies from land to land.
France are way out in front in terms of spending power.
The wage cap in the Top 14 is €11.3m per season, or roughly £10m.
In England, the cap for the Gallagher Premierships clubs is £7m, plus two marquee players.
It’s tricky to give an exact figure for the Irish and Scottish sides because they are owned by their respective Unions and payments to the individual teams aren’t broken down in the IRFU and SRU accounts.
In Ireland, the overall spend on the professional game, including player and management wages, international team costs and Academies, is around 45m Euros - or £40m - while the total figure in Scotland is £29m.
Through speaking to fellow journalists and people in the know over in the Emerald Isle, my understanding is Leinster’s playing budget is around £8m.
That’s taking into account total wages, whether players are on central contracts or provincial ones.
The other three Irish sides would run on less than that, with figures believed to vary between £6m and £7m.
In Scotland, sources tell me Glasgow operate on a playing budget of around £6.5m and Edinburgh £6m.
But there is the firm caveat that these are estimates for our Celtic cousins and you will hear different figures depending who you talk to.
You will also encounter some fans who challenge the amounts quoted and others who reject the idea that financial resource is a key factor in their team’s success.
As ever, money provokes debate wherever you go in rugby!
