Moffett finds money the root of all evil

No-nonsense chief executive adopts a professional approach to restructure the national game

David Moffett takes the Mr Micawber line on fiscal affairs. If expenditure exceeds income the result is misery; vice-versa and you can look the bank manager in the eye. The Welsh Rugby Union is understood to have a debt of around £60 million which explains why Mr Moffett is going through the country with a flame-thrower that would take a dragon's breath away.

"The restructuring of the game is a major issue but so are the finances. They need sorting out and that's pretty simple to do. You get your income to exceed your costs. That isn't happening but it will. And it will happen quickly.'' Speed is of the essence. After years of prevarication – as long ago as 1991 Wales were humbled 63-6 by Australia in Brisbane – the WRU has been living on borrowed time and borrowed money.

Whether it be provinces or super clubs, the principle of rationalisation has been accepted by most in the Principality. The club owners met last week having been given 96 hours by Moffett to respond belatedly to his proposal for four provinces, three of them formed from mergers of the traditional clubs in south and west Wales with a fourth at Wrexham although it looks as if north Wales could become the home of a development team.

The nine-team Premier League would become a 12-club competition played by part-time professionals. The plan is to have a total of 120 professionals playing for the provinces in Europe and the Celtic League and contracted to the WRU.

Moffett, 55, bespectacled and regarded as a visionary, began his task at the beginning of December. He does not have a contract. "I don't believe in them,'' he said. "Six months' notice either way.'' His CV is extraordinary. He was born in Doncaster in 1947, the son of an air traffic controller who was born in Tottenham. "I'm a proud Yorkshireman and a lifelong Spurs supporter.'' In some circles it would be regarded as a double handicap. The family moved to East Africa when he was three before settling in Australia. After running and selling his own waste management business, which somehow makes him well qualified for rugby in Wales, Moffett became executive director of the New South Wales RU and in 1995 coined the acronym Sanza as the southern hemisphere countries launched Super 12 and the Tri-Nations to counter the threat from rugby league, a move which led to union turning professional.

From chief executive of Sanza he became head of the NZRFU for four years before moving back to Australia to run rugby league. Next stop was chief executive of Sport England and the successful staging of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. After nine months with Sport England, the head-hunters got his number again: would he become the first group chief executive of the WRU? "I couldn't pass it up. They were looking for somebody with a business and rugby background and I was able to hit the deck running. Rugby in Wales is not that much different to New Zealand. It's a bit more tribal but it's still the national game. Rugby is my first love.'' When he worked as a flight steward with Qantas for five years he played some club rugby in Brisbane but he never got beyond the second team. A knee injury converted him to refereeing.

When Graham Henry became coach of Wales, Moffett, then chief executive of the NZRFU, didn't like it one little bit. "I did everything in my power to stop Graham leaving New Zealand.'' He also passed the rule prohibiting any man who had coached another national team from coaching the All Blacks. It is as well it doesn't apply to chief execs. Moffett was also responsible for getting Steve Hansen, Wales's present coach, into Canterbury.

In the ongoing debate in Wales both parties, who meet again on Tuesday, have been sworn to secrecy but that didn't stop Tony Brown, who has invested £5m at Newport, from comparing Moffett to a saviour while simultaneously denouncing the WRU. Last Wednesday's meeting was held at the Llantrisant offices of Buy As You View, a TV rental company that sponsors Pontypridd. Neath, who are owned by a subsidiary of the WRU, were not invited to the meeting, a snub described by Mike Cuddy, a director and benefactor of Neath, as "insulting''.

Brown, meanwhile, described Moffett as "the man to rescue Welsh rugby''. He added: "As somebody so competent he must be very lonely. After eight years of professional rugby we are paying the price for WRU failures. We are carrying the can for lack of leadership. It has taken somebody like David to state the facts as they are, not the rubbish that has come out of the WRU. He is a dynamic character who is determined to do the job.''

At one stage Brown found a playmate in Malcolm Pearce, the exasperated owner of Bristol and the two discussed a merger with a view to playing in the English Premiership. The sticking point was that although Newport are members of the RFU as well as the WRU they would not be able to play English league rugby in Wales. Instead Bristol, who are cutting wages by a third which proves that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the Severn, are snuggling up to Bristol City and will play their match against Bath in May at City's Ashton Gate. Newport are now reconciled to a merger with Ebbw Vale. Neath and Bridgend have already said they will dovetail which leaves two natural partnerships between Llanelli and Swansea and Cardiff and Pontypridd. However, Llanelli and Cardiff would prefer to be left alone. It may not be an option.

"Moffett's been brought in to make decisions and he's making them,'' Cuddy said. "The clubs have tried bullying and it hasn't worked. Four provinces is the fair way. Forget tradition. We're talking about new teams centred on the best players in the land. The clubs would still play each other every week.'' Moffett has made significant cuts, the saddest of which is the withdrawal of the A team from the Six Nations. "I'm absolutely gutted,'' Mike Ruddock, who coaches the A squad, said. "I just hope it's temporary. Italy have the resources to run an A team, Wales don't, which says something."

Moffett knows, as Henry knew, that there are too many players in Wales being paid too much money. "The game here made the wrong decisions,'' he said. "The system was not right, not affordable and not sustainable. I think 12 clubs in the English Premiership is too many. They have to import players from overseas to make up the numbers. Actually the professional game is not the most important aspect. Where are the next stars coming from? We have to look at the grassroots but first we have to find the right tier for the professional players.'' In Wales, it was always going to end in tiers.