Wales need a way out of the red mist

Battle lines are being drawn as clubs and country find agreement on only one issue – the Principality is in trouble

At 5.45am on Wednesday a queue began to form at Stradey Park. The ticket office for the Bath-Llanelli quarter-final of the Heineken Cup next Saturday opened at 9.30 and by lunch the "sold out" signs were up. The Recreation Ground, within earshot of the Abbey and flooding distance of the Avon, is a stunning venue, but beautiful is small.

Bath's capacity is slightly less than 9,000 and Llanelli's ticket allocation was a measly 1,720. "We could have taken 5,000," Stuart Gallacher, the chief executive, said. The Scarlet fever is the result of victory over Leicester at Stradey Park last weekend, a win that enabled Llanelli to gatecrash Europe's lucrative knockout stage. The ticketless will be invited to watch the match live on a big screen at the Scarlets' social club, an enforced compromise.

Gallacher is not unaccustomed to such things, and Welsh rugby may be pushed into another partial sacrifice as the Welsh Rugby Union and their leading clubs try to identify and agree upon a radical restructuring of the game. Last week Gallacher, chairman of the management board that comprises four representatives from the clubs and four from the WRU, discussed the best way forward after the so-called Gang of Six had lobbed a stick of dynamite into the cauldron.

"We're looking for a realistic structure to give the top players a chance," Gallacher said. "There is a rugby need and a financial need and we need to marry the two. At the moment we're not meeting either. We underachieved in the Celtic League, we've never won the Heineken Cup and Wales have been struggling in internationals. The system is not working. The players are anxious because of a lack of security and we need to do something quickly."

The six – Llanelli, Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Bridgend and Pontypridd – suggested they should form the Calon Cymru, the "heart of Wales", a proposal that was as breathtaking in its arrogance as Cardiff and Swansea's breakaway to the English Premiership in 1999. With the exception of Llanelli and Newport, these clubs have one thing in common – they are united in failure. "By providing the majority of the international players we pay the highest wage bills," Gallacher said. "We don't have all the answers, but at least by forming a partnership we stimulated a national debate. We're looking at the deal in England between the clubs and the RFU."

The Twickenham partnership was reached after six years of civil war, and the casualties included Richmond and London Scottish as the club owners tried to reduce the size of the Premiership.

"I'm not opposed to reorganisation but I'm vehemently opposed to the self-selected six stealing the ball," Peter Hain, MP for Neath, said. "They have no justification for choosing themselves, particularly as Neath have a better record than most of them."

Hain, the Minister for Europe and a member of Neath RFC for 11 years, added: "Whereas a lot of the six are in debt, Neath are one of the most viable clubs in the country. They are not in debt and nor are they dependent on a multi-millionaire who could go tomorrow. I've made strong representations to the WRU and I think we will win the argument."

The argument, as the Wales coach Graham Henry sees it, is very simple: England has 300,000 players and 12 premier clubs; Wales has 25,000 players and nine premier clubs, and there is neither the strength in depth nor the money to support such figures at the top end of the game.

A plan has been drawn up which could satisfy most parties: with the exception of Llanelli, the others would merge – Cardiff with Bridgend, for example, Swansea with Neath, Pontypridd with Ebbw Vale and Caerphilly – to play in Europe and the Celtic League. However, the premier division would remain, probably without the two Scottish sides, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and one club would be promoted from the first division.

Supporters of Plan A claim the formation of four or five élite teams would strengthen Welsh rugby, the retention of the premier league would mean that clubs would not lose their identity, and players would not be tempted to chop and change.

There is, of course, a problem. When Wales signed up with European Rugby Cup Ltd they did so on the basis that, unlike Scotland (districts) or Ireland (provinces), they would be represented by their clubs. It is understood that England, France and Italy are against hybrid Welsh teams, and under the eight-year agreement any change has to be agreed by all the countries.

Plan B would be five élite clubs playing in the glamour competitions (no mergers, no veto, but there would be plenty of players on the move) and again there would be nine or 10 teams in the premier league. Llanelli would be on the big stage and their second XV would play domestic rugby.

Plan C is for a retention, by and large, of the status quo, and the backers of that are the first division sides, who claim those above them will lose £15m by the end of the season. "They want control and yet they have virtually bankrupted Welsh rugby," Chris O'Callaghan of Aberavon said. "They are guilty of recklessness and mismanagement."

The group, who are calling themselves The Third Way, want relegation and promotion, a ban on non-European players, a salary cap of £1.3m, and an increase in the premier league to 10 Welsh clubs with the exclusion of Edinburgh and Glasgow. "We represent 233 clubs in the union and if necessary we will outvote the élite at a special general meeting," O'Callaghan added.

In England, all of this sounded familiar, as the move to professionalism tore the game apart from top to bottom and even resulted in the national team going on strike. Bemoaning the loss of the old four-team divisional championship, Fran Cotton, a senior figure within the RFU, announced that England would never catch up with the southern hemisphere.

Henry would like to see Plan A adopted, and for the next five years at least. "I think it provides the best of both worlds and would allow us to progress," he said. "I wasn't brought up in the traditions here but I respect them, and I think that any initial resentment towards amalgamations would disappear as we produced stronger teams. It would be very frustrating if it was vetoed on a legal technicality."

Ireland and Scotland are unlikely to object, particularly as they want to develop the Celtic League. The Scots are trying to establish a third district while the Irish, who dominated the inaugural competition which ran before Christmas, want six Welsh participants of whatever persuasion.

In the first final, Leinster beat Munster before 30,000 at Lansdowne Road. Ireland will continue with their four provinces next season, but the exact nature of the Celtic manner will not be known until the Principality acts.

"The standard of the tournament was excellent and we were pleasantly surprised at how successful it was," Philip Browne, the chief executive of the Irish Rugby Union, said. "Now it is down to Wales to decide how many teams they wish to include." They are working on it.