THE Wales Youth Rugby Union is being wound up after refusing to sign a document presented to it by the Welsh Rugby Union.

The youth organisation has been running for 55 years, but its existence is coming to an end.

The WRU want to run youth rugby themselves as a prfessional organisation in a professional age, whereas the Wales Youth RU has been made up of amateurs taking care of all the administration in their own time.

"I am very sad and disappointed." said Roger Thomas of Tredegar, secretary of the Welsh Youth RU.

"It is not a resignation issue, I suppose it's the inevitable result of professionalism.

"But I wish there had been a bit more faith in us and that they had asked us to help for another 12 months or so.

"We could not see a role for the Welsh Youth running international rugby after they presented us with a contract which we were not prepared to sign because we didn't feel it was necessary.

"If they were taking international rugby from us there was not much point staying, so the Welsh Youth Rugby Union will be wound up.

"It's something they have been going to do for some time, but never before has anyone suggested before that money which has been allocated has not been used in the proper manner.

"We are amateurs and we run youth rugby for the love of the game, and we didn't feel we were able to sign these documents.

"We were given an ultimatum which we had no option but to accept. It's obviously a decision made by the chief executive and approved by the board.

"But I don't understand how people taking money out of the game can save money."

WRU general manager Steve Lewis said: "This move is consistent with the WRU strategy to manage the elite end of the game and to ensure an holistic approach to the development of our potential ptofessional and future international players.

"It is also consistent with the approach adopted by the other governing bodies in the Six Nations."

The Welsh Schools Rugby Union could be in a similar situation soon. They have been going for over 100 years.