OUTSPOKEN Newbridge coach Mike Watkins, pictured, has warned the Welsh rugby hierarchy that while they are pandering to the elite, Welsh rugby is dying on its feet.

The former Wales and Newport skipper (pictured) is fed up with certain Welsh Rugby Union officials and media pundits who have placed the blame for the Principality's perceived misfortunes of recent years on money being paid out at the lower end of the game.

He claimed that apart from the regions and one or two semi-professional clubs such as Neath and Newport, the game was now virtually amateur again.

And he warned that if things continued as they were "more and more clubs will cease to exist in the long term." Watkins, who says he does not believe people understand the pressure clubs and coaches in the current Premier Division are under, said: "I feel the game in Wales is dying on its feet.

"The people who supported Pontypridd as the club once was have been lost to the game for good. They don't want to support Cardiff. And the same goes for Bridgend.

"Support for the regions is not as strong as it should be. Support for the (Newport Gwent) Dragons appears to be going down for example. And for how long will clubs in the Premier Division, such as Newport, maintain their level of support?"

He also complained about the way Welsh rugby was marketed. "What about the ticket prices and structure for international matches?" he asked. "Is it right that tickets should be sold on the basis of people being asked to attend more than one game.

"And if you want to attend a game as a family at £55 a ticket with all the ancillary costs of travelling and meals it is beyond the means of many people in the poorer areas of Wales. It is driving people away from the game.

"What we have in Wales now is an elite system at the top with the rest of our game totally depressed.

"Clubhouses are falling down and clubs vanishing and yet clubs at the lower end are being asked to put their houses in order.

"I say the people who have got to put their house in order are the Welsh Rugby Union. It is a complete and utter myth that too much money has been taken out of the game at the bottom end.

"If things continue the way they are, more and more clubs will not exist in the long term to the long term detriment of the game."

Watkins also warned that the three clubs relegated from the Welsh Premier Division this season could go out of existence.

"It is doubtful if some of them would be able to sustain rugby at a lower level," he said. "The grass roots of Welsh rugby are withering."