MARTYN Phillips says the Welsh Rugby Union are “busy as hell” making sure they can hit the ground running when they complete their takeover deal for Newport Gwent Dragons.

The green light was given for the governing body’s deal to take control of the Dragons and buy Rodney Parade by Newport RFC shareholders on May 9.

The fine detail is now being sorted out ahead of July 1 completion date and WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips revealed that work is now cranking up ahead of next season.

“We are doing a lot of the fairly boring work now behind the scenes to tie up the legal side of things but there are no hiccups on that,” said Phillips.

“We’ve been meeting a lot of people around Gwent to build an idea of what the direction is going to be and what people want to see.

“I met Brad Hayward [chairman] of the Dragons Official Supporters Club with Stuart Davies [Dragons chief executive] and had a good session, while we are going to get back in touch with the Friends of Newport Rugby and it will be good to meet them without the pressure of the deal and more about how we are going to work together.

“On the commercial side we are getting in touch with existing sponsors and potential new sponsors while we are also looking to make the game day experience really good.

“We have got some experience of that but we are asking people what they want to see rather than what we think they need.

“We are busy as hell behind the scenes. We felt we should let things die down a little bit for a few weeks after the vote but we very much intend now to start to communicate very energetically about our plans.”

The completion of the deal will enable the Dragons to concentrate on improving on-field matters after a 2016/17 that saw them finish with just Zebre beneath them in the Guinness PRO12 and fail to make the knockout stages of the European Rugby Challenge Cup for the first time in three years.

The squad return for the first stage of pre-season training in a fortnight and Phillips says head coach Kingsley Jones and his management team will be able to turn to the WRU for advice and assistance.

“There is a risk about having too many cooks, so the head coach is the key decision-maker and we are a resource to him,” said the chief executive.

“That can be anybody from Warren Gatland to [head of rugby performance] Geraint John to the conditioning guys and nutritionists, but we do the same for the other regions as well.

“The reality is that in the next few months the Dragons will probably over-index a bit on leaning on us, which we are fine to do, but it’s key for me that all four regions get better every year, not just the Dragons.

“We are not going to suddenly become the Scarlets – and it’s nice to be able to say that! – but we do want to get better.

“We want to involve the clubs and younger generations in Gwent to build something with a wide group of stakeholders.”

Free Press Series:

And the chief executive is pleased that the Scarlets have provided some inspiration with their Guinness PRO12 title triumph against Munster at the Aviva Stadium.

“I was lucky to be over in Dublin and I don’t think it’s too much of an exaggeration to say that Welsh rugby really needed that,” he said.

“I think regional rugby needed that but we are not under any illusions that the best funded clubs, in the long term, do better but it shows what is possible with a good culture and some momentum.

“There is just a very good vibe at the Scarlets, winning brings that to an element but they have been building for a few years, it’s come through for them and I am chuffed to bits.”